Danganronpa: Exoneration or Condemnation?
by Maestro Infinite
Summary: Kogoro Akechi is your average genuis high school detective, who's just going through the motions of life. But that all changes when he meets foreign exchange student Eliza Abbott and the two of them, and several talented criminals, become wrapped up in the insanity of a new rehabilitation program headed by a unique juvie called Icarus Juvenile Detention Center. (Weekend updates).
1. SYOC

A/N: Hello my name is Maestro Infinite; you may know me from my other Danganronpa story _Ultimate Danganronpa 3: Despair's Final Challenge_. And for those of you who don't know me, welcome. Anyways, I have decided to start a new Danganronpa fanfiction that takes place in an alternate universe, not V3's universe mind you, but something similar to that effect. To those of you who read my current fanfiction that deals with the Hope's Peak Academy saga, please do know that I am not abandoning that project, I still intend to finish it…someday. That's a long way down the road though, but I will continue to update it along with this new story. I've just had this idea in my head a while in anticipation for V3's North American release. So I thought wouldn't it be interesting to make my own school for gifted juveniles, only the students who attend this school are actual criminals. When I say gifted juveniles I mean gifted juveniles. I'm talking about kids whose talents strictly dwell within criminal enterprises. From gang violence, to cybercrimes, leading all the way up to murder. My new school will play host to many different kids with juvie records along with two other gifted kids who get wrapped up into their mayhem. I plan to have sixteen students in this new game, I've already made two OCs who will fill in those positions. Here they are:

* * *

 **Name –** Kogoro Akechi

 **Gender –** Male

 **Age –** 18

 **Height –** 195 cm

 **Chest size –** 85 cm

 **Weight –** 70 kg

 **Blood Type –** O-

 **Birthday –** January 6th

 **Astrological sign –** Capricorn

 **Year in high school –** Third (12th grade)

 **Physical appearance (hair color, eye color, distinguishing features, etc.) –** He has sandy brown colored hair that's always messy and unkempt, a pair of brown eyes that have dark bags under them that show his clear sleep deprivation, and pasty skin that shows how often he goes outside. He's taller than an average third year, and he kind of has a complex about it. His appearance gives off a serious nature at first glance, but when you get him talking you realize how much of a joker he really is. In the end, you find it hard to believe that someone like him could be a genius detective.

 **Primary outfit (will wear all the time) –** He typically wears a brown trench coat, which is stained and torn in several different places, over a sloppily worn white dress shirt and a loosely hung red tie. He also wears a pair of dark black dress pants which are held up by a simply belt with a silver belt buckle, a pair of matching black socks, and a pair of brown loafers. When a situation turns serious he has a habit of removing his coat and rolling up his shirt sleeves.

 **Secondary outfit (only wear in special events) –** On special occasions he'll wear another dress shirt and tie, only now they'll be neat and tidy. He'll also retain his regular pants and shoes. He's a simple man who's not really that big on change.

 **Talent –** SHSL/Ultimate Detective

 **Family and friends –** Kogoro's father abandoned him and his mother before he could even talk. He does not remember anything about him, nor does he ever want to find out anything about him. His mother's parents died at a young age and she did not have any siblings to speak of, so Kogoro's mother was his only living relative. Growing up, he had no friends to really speak of, so he usually hung out and played by himself. And when he could, he would spend all his time with his mother.

 **Basic personality –** Kogoro is a very complicated individual, with many faces to him. Since he was little he tried to always be jokey and have a smile on his face so he could cheer up his mother, and his jokey attitude has carried over into his late teen years as well as his mother told him when he was little that if he continued to make people smile then he would have lots of friends one day…and maybe even win the heart of a girl while he's at it. Of course, he doesn't really believe this will happen. He merely does it because he feels that it would make his mother happy.

 **Hidden personality (if they have one) –** Kogoro's true nature is that of a cold and calculating individual who sacrifices trivial things like feelings and morals in search of the truth. The truth is what drives Kogoro. He doesn't care where it will lead him, how much heart break it will cause to those around him, or even about the irreparable effects it will have on the future. As long as the truth is uncovered, that is all that matters. However, this cold nature is precisely what makes him such a brilliant detective. When he gets serious, criminals best beware.

 **Physical or mental condition (again, if they have one) –** When he was younger, some doctors examined him out of concern for his mental health and well-being due to everything that he had seen. They thought that his cold and calculating nature might have been a sign of the early onsets of Asperger's Syndrome, but after further testing they decided that the results were inconclusive due to the warm attitude he shared towards his mother.

 **Likes –** Cup noodles, detective novels (especially those written by Edogawa Ranpo, his and his mother's favorite author), sweets, mysteries, justice, and the truth

 **Dislikes –** Salty snacks, boring cases, criminals, the idiotic public, morbid curiosity, and lies

 **Pet peeves –** People trying to outsmart him. Sometimes he wishes he wasn't the smartest person in the room because he finds that it only invites competition, from criminals and the police alike.

 **Backstory –** Find out this through the story.

 **Do you see your character as more of a victim or a killer? (I'm making the mysteries and the crimes so feel free not to answer if you don't want to) –** Killer, he'd be smart enough to get away with it. Not that he'd ever do it of course.

 **Their approaches towards despair (how do they react exactly when they see a dead body for example) –** His serious detective nature takes ahold of him and he starts to lead the others.

 **Relationship (do you want your character to have one?) –** He'd like to have one someday, but he just hasn't found a girl who's interesting enough for him yet.

* * *

 **Name –** Eliza Abbott

 **Gender –** Female

 **Age –** 17

 **Height –** 172 cm

 **Chest size –** 88 cm

 **Weight –** 58 kg

 **Blood Type –** AB+

 **Birthday –** December 15th

 **Astrological sign –** Sagittarius

 **Year in high school –** Second (11th grade)

 **Physical appearance (hair color, eye color, distinguishing features, etc.) –** Eliza has long blonde hair which flows down to her back, a pair of bright green eyes, snow white skin and light freckles. She gives off a cheerful, yet smug attitude. She fancies herself to be a true genius so it fits.

 **Primary outfit (will wear all the time) –** She wears a blue blazer dress jacket, which has its buttons all undone, over a sleeveless, orangeish cardigan sweater. The cardigan sweater is worn over a white dress shirt and a periwinkle colored tie. She also wears a blue skirt which matches her blazer dress jacket, a pair of periwinkle knee-high socks, a pair of black dress shoes, a periwinkle hairband, and a pair of pink glasses.

 **Secondary outfit (only wear in special events) –** On special occasions she wears a periwinkle blouse, a white and periwinkle polka-dotted skirt, black leggings, and a pair of comfortable white shoes.

 **Talent –** SHSL/Ultimate Forensic Psychologist

 **Family and friends –** She comes from a very wealthy family in England, however since relocating to Japan she has been taking on the new challenge of living on her own. She hasn't been in Japan that long so she hasn't exactly gotten around to making new friends yet, although she was also lacking in friends back in England so things might not change for her at all.

 **Basic personality –** Unlike Kogoro, she takes everything very seriously. She tries to do everything with the upmost perfection, as it was the way she was raised to behave. She was also raised with a lot of arrogance as her parents drilled the idea that she was better than everyone into her head from a young age. Needless to say, she hates losing. She sees each criminal she interviews as a puzzle for her to solve, and she gets a kick out of figuring out what makes them tick.

 **Hidden personality (if they have one) –** However, deep down she cares whole-heartedly about her studies to become a forensic psychologist. Due to a tragic event involving her older brother when she was younger, she has vowed to herself to help make the world a better place not only for the victims of criminal acts but also for the criminals themselves. She truly cares about each criminal she works with, but she will never say it out loud.

 **Physical or mental condition (again, if they have one) –** Some slight PTSD from a tragic event involving her older brother.

 **Likes –** Oranges, classical music, puzzles, riddles, criminology, profiling, and psychiatry

 **Dislikes –** Apples, failure, people who pretend to be something they're not, and sociopaths

 **Pet peeves –** She can't handle losing at anything. She always has to be right and always has to win.

 **Backstory –** Find out this through the story.

 **Do you see your character as more of a victim or a killer? (I'm making the mysteries and the crimes so feel free not to answer if you don't want to) –** Victim, she doesn't have the heart to kill anyone.

 **Their approaches towards despair (how do they react exactly when they see a dead body for example) –** She'd be shocked at first but then become serious as her work has exposed her to gruesome sights on more than one occasion.

 **Relationship (do you want your character to have one?) –** She doesn't have time for anything like that. But she would want someone who could challenge her.

* * *

A detective and a forensic psychologist, they and a horde of juveniles will get the chance to play in the new mutual killing game I like to call _Danganronpa: Exoneration or Condemnation?_. A game in which killing won't be the only way that the kids can decide their fate. Now then, I won't even talk about going through with this fanfic until I get you guys' approval. If you want to see this story happen I suggest you start creating your little criminals. Submit a PM to me containing your character's information in the same fashion that I presented my OCs, of course I ask you to add your character's backstories so I'll know what to expect going forward. And last thing, there's no time limit on OC creation. So whenever I get fourteen juveniles that I like is when the story starts. If that never happens however, then this story will never start and it will just be a forgotten fanfic relic. I for one want to write this story I have planned. So please, give me some criminals!


	2. SYOC Redux

A/N: We meet again, fellow fanfic creators. I am pleased to say that in only two short days I have gotten a handful of OC submissions. So I thought I would take this time to talk to you guys about the current state of things. So far these are the OCs that I have gotten:

 **GRAND TOTAL: 54**

SHSL/Ultimate Thief – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Sukeban (the leader of a delinquent Japanese girl gang) – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Fence (buyer of stolen goods) – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Doctor (mob doctor to be exact) – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Hacker – 2

SHSL/Ultimate Hitman/Hitwoman – 4

SHSL/Ultimate Cleaner (cleaner of crime scenes) – 2

SHSL/Ultimate Prostitute – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Consigliere (the right hand of the Godfather of a mafia syndicate) – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Forger – 2

SHSL/Ultimate Accomplice – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Saboteur/Mechanic/Fixer (a person who fixes murderous problems that a client finds themselves in by staging crime scenes and framing others) – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Smooth-Talker – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Phantom Thief – 3

SHSL/Ultimate Vigilante – 4

SHSL/Ultimate Stalker – 1

SHSL/Ultimate ? – 4

SHSL/Ultimate Information Broker – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Executioner – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Oyabun (the leader of a group of Yakuza) – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Smuggler – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Torturer – 2

SHSL/Ultimate Napoleon of Crime (a position similiar to that of notorious criminal mastermind Adam Worth, the man that Sherlock Holmes' greatest adversary, Professor James Moriarty, was based off of. A sort of consulting criminal who helps other criminals with their schemes.) – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Pyromaniac/Arsonist – 2

SHSL/Ultimate Drug Dealer – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Serial Killer – 2

SHSL/Ultimate Collectionist – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Defamer/Famacide – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Black Market Trafficker – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Weapon Specialist – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Model Crafter – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Human Experimenter – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Anti-Cupid – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Blackmailer – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Kidnapper – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Conman – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Rapist – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Reaper – 1

SHSL/Ultimate Debt Collector/Loan Shark – 1

Quite a lot of them as you can see. But please do note that just because these talents have been used by another OC, it does not mean that they cannot be used by another OC when you are creating a character. However, I do ask that you only stick to talents which have only been used once. So please no more hitmen, vigilantes, cleaners, forgers, phantom thieves, or pyromaniacs. But if you want to create an OC with an entirely new talent and are getting stuck on finding a criminal based talent to suit your OC allow me to make some suggestions:

SHSL/Ultimate Bookie/Book Keeper

SHSL/Ultimate Graffiti Artist/Tagger

SHSL/Ultimate Drug Cook

SHSL/Ultimate Street Racer

SHSL/Ultimate Poacher

SHSL/Ultimate Pirate (modern-day or old-timey if you want)

SHSL/Ultimate Gunsmith

SHSL/Ultimate Bomber

SHSL/Ultimate Cult Leader

SHSL/Ultimate Dog Fighter

SHSL/Ultimate Hustler

SHSL/Ultimate Tattoo Collector (different tattoos symbolize crimes that the wearer has committed, it's a common gang and mafia tradition throughout the world)

There's probably loads more criminal-based talents out there but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I hope this helped, and please continue sending in OCs. Remember, you're allowed to send in more than one. And to make things easier I have put the submission sheet on my profile, it's at the very bottom. Till next time.


	3. 16 Becomes 20 and Help Wanted

A/N: Hey guys quick update. I have received way more OC requests than I thought I would so I'm going to increase the open slots to eighteen, plus my two OCs, makes twenty. I'm doing this because you guys are so very talented and there are just so many OCs to choose from. It shouldn't be that much of a problem, the _Danganronpa_ fanfiction I currently write has twenty too. But for that one, not a lot of people submitted OCs so I had to take every single one I was given, and even after that I had to make more characters to make twenty. That's why I started out with sixteen, but you guys have surpassed my expectations. Thank you so much. I hope you're looking forward to this story, because with how much feedback I've gotten so far it's definitely going to happen.

Keep checking the post marked SYOC Redux, as I will keep updating it with each OC I get. And one last thing, since I'm going to be doing this fanfic as well as my other _Danganronpa_ fanfic I'm going to kind of have my plate full. So I was wondering if any of you wanted to help me write this thing. I've never done a true collaboration before, but I think it might be fun. I only need one helper though. I can handle the writing, I just need someone to spitball ideas with me about plot, mysteries, class trials and the like. So if any of you would like to be my co-author please I ask that you PM me and we'll go over the details. Anyway, that's all for now. Hope to keep hearing from you guys.


	4. Submission Deadline and Character Roster

A/N: Wow, just wow. I never expected to get this much hype for this little project of mine. Almost fifty OCs have been submitted so far. It's clear that a lot of you want to be involved in this project. So I thank you, for all the time and effort you've put into making characters for this story. I hope you all found it interesting, creating a character that's a criminal. But unfortunately, as you know I can only pick eighteen among the lot of them to play this game. And this decision is killing me as it is, so I'm finally going to announce the closing date on OC submission. Sunday, August 27, 2017 at 11:59 EST. I live in the United States, on the East coast, and I know a lot of you are from different parts of the world so I'm just going by the time zone I live in. So to make sure you don't miss the deadline check to see how many hours behind, or ahead of me you are. I will not accept any more OCs after this deadline. I'm sorry, I just have too many to decide from already. So to those of you out there who are still working on your OC, or haven't submitted one yet but are thinking about it, please go ahead and finish. I can't guarantee that your characters will be picked but it can't hurt to submit them. And if all else fails, at least you'll have a unique OC on hand that you can keep or submit for another unique Danganronpa fanfic.

When the time is up, I'll resubmit this post with an added character roster. And please remember if I don't pick your OC, I have nothing against you or your character, you are all very talented and have so many ideas. All it means is that I liked another writer's OC better. So please don't have hurt feelings or stop following this story. Remember, trying to pick eighteen OCs out of a huge batch like this is already so tough on me. Alright that's all I have to say, until next time.

* * *

Time. Alright that's it, OC submission is officially closed. The grand total of OCs that I have received is fifty-four. Which is incredible, I honestly don't think any other Danganronpa fanfic has received as many OC submissions as this one. And I am proud to be the owner of this fanfic. So before I announce the results of the contest, I would like to personally thank everyone of you who submitted an OC.

 **liammarklh88**

 **wiseowl99**

 **CapriciousUke**

 **KananMari**

 **Accept-the-multiverse**

 **DancingCactuar**

 **The Unexpected Trial**

 **Notadeadguy**

 **Ifdalesew**

 **Usagi Kagome**

 **unaccountedfor**

 **LanceOtter**

 **BIBOTOT**

 **Shyjoker**

 **Katastic Writer**

 **The Pocketwatch Reaper**

 **R3dLuv3Singin**

 **Swordsman795**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too**

 **RedEndz**

 **hirowriter**

 **hirowriter's friend** (don't know penname)

 **CandySky**

 **Sorora-hime**

 **Richard Conway**

 **TheRoseShadow21**

 **A-SHSL-Revival-All-In-My-Head**

 **TheDiamondLava**

 **jc9453**

 **DeadLyokoBrony**

 **dashunterman**

 **Comettail76**

 **Hong Cong**

 **lucsld**

 **ShadedLyht**

 **lucky-cure**

 **Harukawa Ayame**

 **Fallenstreet01**

 **PainX65**

and **WhiteReaper4**

I thank all of you for submitting OCs and helping support this story. And now without further ado, here are the results:

1) Kogoro Akechi - made by me

2) Eliza Abbott - made by me

3) Adam Wick - made by **BIBOTOT**

4) Airi Shimizu - made by **liammarklh88**

5) Damion Stavros - made by **tobi-is-an-artist-too**

6) Fuyu Tachibana - made by **CapriciousUke**

7) Ginrou Kubikiri - made by **PainX65**

8) Hinageshi Otsuka - made by **Harukawa Ayame**

9) Koro Kiriko - made by **R3dLuv3Singin**

10) Kaori Takenaka - made by **Notadeadguy**

11) Lucius Morita - made by **Swordsman795**

12) Yoko Ketsukari - made by **Shyjoker**

13) Noriaki Kita - made by **ShadedLyht**

14) Mana Aiso - made by **unaccountedfor**

15) Taichi Inai - made by **Ifdalesew**

16) Mirai Reveuse - made by **lucky-cure**

17) Victor Blood - made by **WhiteReaper4**

18) Mireille DuMonte - made by **dashunterman**

19) Yosuke Kojima - made by **DancingCactuar**

20) Opal Kaido - made by **lucky-cure**

These are the students who shall compete in the new mutual killing game that Monokuma has planned. As you can see I did not include the talents for each character, as to keep some mystery to the beginning of the story. However, the creators should know their characters by heart, and I hope you guys are looking forward to seeing your characters in action. I will try and do them justice. Now then, get ready because the story starts Friday (God willing). Till next time.


	5. Prologue, Part 1

A/N: Here it is as promised. The beginning of our new Danganronpa game. Introducing the Ultimate Detective, Kogoro Akechi, and the Ultimate Forensic Psychologist, Eliza Abbott. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I'm going to try to do weekly posts on Friday, so look forward to next week. But for now please enjoy the beginning with narration by Akechi.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

 **Prologue, Part 1 – The genius detective is forced to babysit a spoiled little rich girl**

* * *

The world is black and white as far as I'm concerned. There is innocence and there is guilt. There is no gray, there is nothing in between. The world is really simple. There is no higher purpose for us. We were born on this planet and we will die on this planet. What we choose to make of our lives here, that's for us to decide. But we're very stupid creatures. And so we decide to hurt each other. We steal, we fight, and we kill. Human beings are really so stupid. We've lived on this putrid mud ball for thousands of years and we're still just as barbaric as our ancestors, the only difference is that now we know it's wrong to behave like that. We find new ways to hurt each other every day. The violence, the killing, it never stops. It will never stop. Human beings are flawed beyond comparison. I sometimes think that it's a miracle the human race has survived this long without wiping itself out completely.

I see it every day, the hopelessness of mankind. Each and every year more criminals appear. More thieves, rapists, and killers come out of the woodwork. They're almost like termites gnawing away at what's left of the rotten tree trunk that is the world. I wonder why nobody has bothered to chop the tree down and put it out of its misery yet. The world clearly isn't going to get better. Human beings have been on this path of self-destruction for decades now. We contaminate the world just by living on it. Mankind is almost like a disease in that aspect. And if that's the case, maybe the ever rising crime rate is just a fever the world is creating to get rid of the infection.

But then again, why should I care what happens to mankind at all? I lost faith in humanity a long time ago. Not sure when though. Maybe it was when my mom died from the exhaustion that working three jobs forced upon her, and no one besides me seemed to mourn her loss. Maybe it happened when I saw my first murder victim, a man who had been stabbed twenty-seven times by some junkie who wanted his wallet. Maybe it was when that same junkie got away with murder because the courts ruled that he wasn't legally competent to stand trial due to his drug addiction. Maybe it happened when a month later that same junkie killed again, this time an innocent mother and child. Or maybe it was some other despicable thing I witnessed after I turned ten years old.

I've been around so much death. More death than any one person should have to bear witness to in their lifetime. And not one of them, not a single one didn't make my stomach churn in some manner. How many bodies have I seen up till now? Somewhere around two-hundred? Maybe three-hundred? Just kidding. I remember exactly how many. Four-hundred and sixty-three, counting my mother whose body was found by me. I've grown numb to the feeling of shock and awe. I don't even bat an eye anymore when I find a body. Why should I? It's not going to change anything if I show emotion. People die. People die in horrific ways all the time. By another person, by their own hand, even by the world itself. I used to pray for those people who become wrapped up in tragedies. But soon I realized, what's the point? What kind of God would allow this much suffering? What kind of God would allow criminals and murderers to walk free? What kind of God would leave a ten-year-old kid all alone in this Him forsaken shit hole we all call home?

There's no point. And considering my line of work, I'm bound to join my body count one day real soon. But enough of my depressing soliloquy for now. Introductions are in order. The name's Kogoro Akechi. That's right, like the fictional detective, go on laugh it up. Everyone I meet does. And yes, it's written the same way. My mother was real into Edogawa Ranpo, and her last name just happened to be Akechi, so I got stuck with my name Kogoro, named after the main character in Edogawa's novels. But it's not so bad, truth be told I love Edogawa Ranpo too. And it feels me with pride to know that my name connects me to the great Kogoro Akechi. Which is why I guess, it was no surprise that I wanted to become a detective when I grew up. Little did I know, I would make my dream a reality way earlier than anticipated. It happened about the time that my mother passed away from exhaustion, my dad wasn't in the picture and I had no other living relatives to speak of, so I was placed in foster care. Unfortunately, I was never adopted by a nice, loving family. They all thought I was too weird. Why? Because I was cursed. Ever since my mother died, every other day I would stumble upon another body. It soon got to the point where seeing death was a normal everyday occurrence for me. And everyone around me tried to distance themselves from me out of fear that I would bring death upon them as well. You see in some of those cheesy detective manga and anime how the protagonist always seems to be in a place where a murder will happen, you laugh at the peculiarity of it and say that would never happen to anyone in real life. Well it does, at least for me it does. And just like those cheesy detective protagonists I would try and solve each and every one. And I did, I solved every single case I came across.

The police, they thought of me as a nuisance, still do actually. But the government soon recognized my amazing talent of deduction, and then when I turned fifteen and emancipated myself, they decided that they would do the very cheesy manga and anime thing and make me an honorary detective of the state. That's right, a real life high school detective. It's been three years since then, and there hasn't been a single case that's stumped me yet. Now then, that's enough about me. Since you're here listening in, I know what you really want is to get straight to the action. I'm with you, I hate it when detective novels take too long to get to the murder. I get they're trying to build up plot, but still having to read every other nitpicky detail gets a little boring after a while. Though unfortunately, we're going to have to take things slow as well. Trust me though, the story I'm about to tell you will be well worth the wait.

Now first off, let's start at the place where all good stories start at. The beginning. Lame joke, right? Forget it then, let me just tell you about the day that life as I knew it changed forever. It begins the way most stories do, the appearance of a girl. Don't get confused though, this isn't a romance story. But this girl is very important. Why? Because she's the reason I got wrapped up into this craziness in the first place. It had been about a month since I had received a new case from my superiors, they only usually asked for my help whenever big things came up. Serial killings, business scandals, high profile kidnappings, you know the usual private detective clichés. But whenever my case load was empty, I would take to the streets and do some menial public services like helping elderly people cross the streets, and helping cats who get stuck up in trees. It was a real quiet, peaceful life.

Then came the day where I would receive yet another high profile case from the government. My assignment was a girl, or more accurately my assignment was to guard and assist this girl with whatever she needed. In other words, I was being hired on by the government to play babysitter to some foreign brat. Eliza Abbott, that was her name. Apparently she was the daughter of some British multi-millionaire who had close ties to some of Japan's government officials. Meaning, Eliza was a spoiled little rich girl and I had to watch over her the whole time while she was in Japan. Lucky me.

Of course, I refused this case at first. Babysitting some foreign heiress didn't sound appealing to me at all. But apparently, the spoiled brat asked for me by name. She threw a fit to her daddy and said that she wouldn't accept anyone besides me as her bodyguard. I had assisted in private security before, so I was no stranger to playing the role of a bodyguard. But the fact that she had to throw a tantrum to her daddy and in turn make him throw a tantrum to my superiors just confirmed the reason why I didn't want to babysit her in the first place. This girl would be the death of me, I knew that without even having met her beforehand. But my superiors threatened to suspend my consultant status if I refused to take the case, which would mean no more interesting cases for me to work on, and maybe even the end of my detective career in the process. And I just could not allow that, so I reluctantly agreed. And about a week later, the bratty heiress arrived in Japan.

Which brings me to the day I first came face to face with the royal pain in my ass. I had rented a limousine at her request and even hired a chauffeur to drive us to where we needed to go, which cost a lot of money, money that I was forced to spend out of my own pocket mind you. Hopefully, I would be reimbursed when my services were no longer needed. Though I doubted the bratty heiress would care about my financial concerns even a little. "It's just for one month, it's just for one month, it's just for one month," I kept repeating the words my superiors told me over and over again in my head.

Our chauffer parked the limousine in front of a luxurious hotel where my bratty client was intending to stay until her business in Japan was concluded. I pulled out my cellphone and checked the time. It was almost 9:00, we were supposed to leave half an hour ago. I sighed in exasperation. "Of course she's late. What was I expecting?" I said to myself. Then a wicked idea crept into my head. "Maybe I could just leave her here and make her take the subway by herself? Gropers love foreign girls, especially ones with blonde hair. That would teach her a lesson about keeping me waiting." Then reality sunk in. "Of course if anything does happen to her, I'll be fired for sure. Her dad might even try to kill me," I said to myself. I shook those thoughts out of my head. "Fine, I'll give her a few more minutes."

And then as if on cue, the bratty heiress herself finally appeared from the hotel's double doors. She waved goodbye to the hotel doorman and then made her way over to the limousine. Even the way she walked was like that of a rich girl, slow evenly paced steps. It was like she thought she had all the time in world. I also took notice of the brown leather satchel that she was carrying over her shoulder. When she reached the limousine she looked at me and smiled in a demeaning way. "Akechi-kun, I take it?" Eliza asked. To my surprise she spoke pretty fluent Japanese.

"Yes, that's me. And you're Abbott-san?" I asked. I already knew who she was, I had seen the photo submitted in her profile too many times.

She nodded. "That's me, yes." Her eyes examined me thoroughly. "You look just like you do in the photos I've seen of you. You're even dressed the same way."

"I don't really like change all that much. I've never changed my hairstyle and I have multiple copies of the same outfit," I replied with a matching demeaning smile.

"Is that so? How peculiar," she said with a snooty giggle.

I glared at her. 'If only she knew the truth behind my slovenly appearance,' I thought to myself. The truth was, I hardly ever slept. I've been an insomniac since I was a child, but I never let it interfere with my work. Whenever I couldn't sleep I would work on a case, I put my insomnia to good use. However, due to that fact that I usually only got roughly four hours of sleep each night, I always seemed to look exhausted. My sandy brown hair was always messy and disheveled, so much so that it looked like I had a bird's nest in it. My brown eyes always had dark bags under them, that would never fade no matter how hard I tried to get rid of them. And my skin always seemed to be pale and oily. I showered every day but it just took an hour for me to become greasy again. My clothes were frequently messy as well, because sometimes I would fall asleep while wearing them. I wore a brown trench coat which was stained in several places, over a sloppily worn white dress shirt and a loosely hung red tie. I also wore a pair of dark black dress pants which were held up by a simple belt with a silver belt buckle, a pair of matching black socks, and a pair of brown loafers.

"Those particular clothes of yours look a little old though. Let me guess, you've been wearing them for a couple of days haven't you?" Eliza asked.

I tried to keep my composure. "Yes, it's been about two days. I've been so busy preparing things for your arrival that I haven't had an opportunity to go home and change."

"Is that so? Well, I apologize if my demands have inconvenienced you in anyway. Please, don't neglect to inform me if I continue to do so in the future. I promise, as soon as we're done with our work for the day I'll give you a much needed break," Eliza replied.

I smiled. "Thank you, Abbott-san. That would be much appreciated."

"Now then shall we be on our way?" Eliza replied.

I moved out of the way so she could open the door and get into the limousine. "Sure, let's go."

"Umm, aren't you going to get the door for me?" Eliza asked in a demeaning way.

"Oh, sorry my mistake." I quickly grabbed ahold of the door handle and opened the limousine door for her. Then I motioned for Eliza to step inside.

"Thank you, Akechi-kun," she said in a smarmy tone. Then she stepped into the limousine.

I sighed in exasperation. A few minutes with her was more than enough, and unfortunately I had to spend the entire day with her. And then the rest of the month as well. "It's just for one month. It's just for one month," I kept repeating those words over and over again like they were my personal mantra. Then I took in a deep breath and entered the limousine as well and closed the door behind me. Once Eliza and I were comfortably seated in the back of the limousine, I called out to the chauffer, "We're both ready to go."

"Yes sir, same destination as yesterday?" the chauffer replied.

"That's right, and go as fast as you can because we're already late," I replied.

"You can count on me," the chauffer replied. "Oh and please take a complimentary water from the refrigerator back there. You too Miss. Your business is much appreciated."

Then he rolled up the window that separated the back of the limousine from the front to give us some privacy. And then a few moments later we were off to our destination. Eliza collected two water bottles from the refrigerator as instructed and passed one to me. Then we both drank our water in silence while we enjoyed the ride. I couldn't help but notice that Eliza's mind appeared to be somewhere else. I glanced over at her a few times out of curiosity, and I took my time to observe her carefully. I was a detective; it was a bad habit of mine to observe the mannerisms of every single person I came across. She had long blonde hair which flowed down to her back, a pair of bright green eyes, snow white skin and light freckles that littered her cheeks. She wore a blue blazer dress jacket, which was unbuttoned, over a sleeveless, orangeish cardigan sweater. The cardigan sweater was worn over a white dress shirt and a periwinkle colored tie. She also wore a blue skirt which matched her blazer dress jacket, a pair of periwinkle knee-high socks, a pair of black dress shoes, a periwinkle hairband, and a pair of pink glasses. Her satchel was now laying down on the seat between us, whatever she was carrying inside must have been important.

It was a half an hour car ride from her hotel to get to our destination, she barely spoke a word to me in that entire time. She mainly stared out the window and watched as the scenery around us passed by. I could see in the window's reflection that she was wearing a serious look on her face. But upon further observation, I found that her expression wasn't serious, it seemed almost sad. She looked depressed and troubled about something. It seemed like she needed someone to talk to, and unfortunately I was the only person there.

I sighed and then began to speak. "Hey, Abbott-san? Can I ask you something?" I thought at the very least that I could satisfy my curiosity.

"You want to know why I wanted you to be my bodyguard, right?" Eliza replied. She hit the nail on the head.

"How did you…?" I began to reply before she interrupted me again.

"You read my file, you know I'm no ordinary girl. If anything, I'd say I'm the female version of you. If you must know, there wasn't any special reason behind it. I've heard about you through my line of work and since I was coming to Japan anyway, I thought I would satisfy my curiosity and put a face to the name. Kogoro Akechi, the famous high school detective. Don't you know, you're a living legend around the world?" Eliza replied.

"So that's all, eh?" I replied. It turned out that we were more alike than I thought.

"Well not exactly, the people we're going to interview today. Didn't anyone tell you? A few of them are people you helped put away," Eliza replied.

"What?!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't be alarmed, only a few of them have a checkered past with you. As for the others, they're only there so I can study them. I want to know exactly what makes them tick. Aren't you curious about the reasoning behind their crimes as well?" Eliza asked.

I shook my head. "No I'm not. When I close a case that's the last interaction I have with it. I don't get emotionally involved in any of them, it's not healthy. But still, what's the purpose of doing all this? Even after being briefed on the situation and visiting the place myself, I still don't understand your motive behind all this."

"There's no motive of any kind. My father made his fortune in private security, and one of his many businesses is privately owned prisons. He's not the only member of my family who is involved in the legal system though. My grandfather was a judge for over fifty years, and my great grandfather was the warden of his own prison for even longer than that. My mother's a high profile lawyer and even my brother was a police officer. My family's always been interested in these kinds of things, for generation upon generation. It's only natural that I would follow in their footsteps and pursue a career in the legal system as well," Eliza replied.

That's right, along with being a rich, spoiled heiress, Eliza was apparently involved in the same business I was. However, whereas I would catch criminals and expose their crimes, Eliza made it her mission to discover the motive behind the criminal's crimes and probe their brains to use as reference material. She had apparently studied profiling and advanced interrogation techniques since she was little and now she was currently studying to become a full-fledged forensic psychologist. For those of you who don't know, forensic psychologists are psychologists who specialize in applying psychological knowledge to legal matters, both in the criminal and civil arenas. Basically, their job is to determine the mental state of a criminal and find out what exactly makes them tick.

And the reason behind her arrival in Japan was just that, an opportunity to study several criminals who had been transferred to a newly built corrections facility. Icarus Juvenile Detention Center. Appropriately named due to the nature of its current inmates, juveniles who have accomplished more criminal acts in their teen years than most adult criminals could accomplish in their lifetime. Basically, these juveniles had talents ranging from a wide variety of skills in the criminal underworld. But like Icarus, the winged boy from Greek mythology, they flew too close to the sun by committing more criminal acts than they could possibly handle. In the end, each and every one of them ended up with a life sentence somewhere around the world. And now they were all supposedly being transferred to this newly built corrections facility which was built on its private rules:

1) Any inmate who committed a crime during their preteen or teenage years is eligible to be transferred to Icarus. Because of its privately run status it is allowed to decide the cutting off point for inmates sentences there. In other words, there was no rule that they had to age out when they turned eighteen or twenty-one. The inmates are allowed to stay at Icarus and carry out the remainder of their sentences.

2) Icarus is a minimum security prison. Inmates who reside there are allowed to roam the facility as they so please, and are not under lock and key 24/7 as they were at other prisons. Inmates are also required to get their high school G.E.D if they were unable to graduate before they were caught. So it's basically about as strict as a private school.

3) The last and most important rule. While capital punishment is not mandated, inmates who constantly disrespect the guards and administration of Icarus will be subject to severe punishment. This could range from isolation and psychological punishment to pure torture, depending on the inmate's offense. So even though it was pretty laid back compared to other prisons, it still enforced punishment on any inmate who disobeyed the rules. And at a prison built purely for those prodigy criminals it's hard to imagine just what that punishment might be.

It sounds weird on paper, right? I mean building a whole prison just to house those special teenage criminals? How can that not be weird? "So who's idea was it to build Icarus, anyway? You or your father's?" I asked out of curiosity.

"It was father's idea to build our own prison, but as for the location and inmates assigned here, that was all me." Eliza looked out of her window. "And speaking of location, we're coming up on the bridge." I looked out my window and saw that she was right, we were about to make our cross over the large suspension bridge that led to Icarus. The prison itself was housed on a small island off of the coast of Japan. Apparently the plans to build Icarus had been in the making for several years, as not only was the prison built brick by brick on this small island, but the large suspension bridge leading right to it was as well. The bridge spanned over the ocean for 22.2 km or 12 nautical miles. Meaning, Icarus itself was smack dab in the middle of International waters.

"So building it out here in international waters, that was all your idea?" I asked.

"Since the inmates who will remain here are from many different countries there would be different laws for how we could deal with each individual, so the simplest thing to do was build it out here in international waters, where everyone is equal," Eliza replied.

"You mean where nobody has any rights. You know a lot of people who plan to commit crimes go out to international waters to deal with them because they know they can't be punished for it. Did you know you can even get away with murder if you commit it out here?" I replied.

Eliza giggled. "You have a dark sense of humor, Akechi-kun. There's no need to worry, we're not going to illegally experiment on any of the inmates if that's what you're concerned about. Keeping them out here is purely to avoid unnecessary red tape, or at least that's how I explained it to father."

"Oh? And why did you really want to have it built out here?" I asked.

Eliza shrugged her shoulders. "I like the ocean, and I thought the inmates might appreciate the view too."

"Uh-huh. And are you sure you're also not planning to do anything illegal out here?" I asked.

"I'm not that kind of doctor. Rest assured, Mr. Detective, nothing unscrupulous will occur out here. Not as long as my family has anything to say about it. But tell me are you really concerned for the inmates' well-being? From what I've heard about you, every criminal is scum in your eyes," Eliza replied.

I chuckled. "That's true. I hate criminals, I absolutely despise them," I said with a gentle smile. "But if you were violating their human rights then that would make you a criminal too, which means that I would have to stop you no matter what."

Eliza smiled at me. "You are exactly the kind of person I expected you to be. An extremely high moral standing, but still a down to Earth person that you can aimlessly chat with. There's no need to worry, Akechi-kun. I may not look like it, but I care deeply about my work, and I care about what happens to these inmates. At least here they'll be able to pursue semi-normal lives, which is much better than the lives they would've had back in their former prisons. Icarus is my ideal detention center, we believe in total reformation, and only punish when absolutely necessary. We don't answer to the federal government which means they can't cut our budget left and right like they do for normal prisons, which means our inmates our kept in superb living conditions. In the outside world nobody cares if these people live or die, but Icarus isn't like that. We treat our inmates like people, not animals. And above all else, we work with the inmates and try to get them the help they need, instead of leaving them to rot behind bars. In fact, if most of them had gotten help when they needed it, they wouldn't be in their current situations," Eliza said as she gently patted her satchel. "Society failed them, but I want to help them." She looked up at me. "Aren't you interested in truly making a difference with them as well?"

I looked at her and then I looked down at her satchel. "Just how many perpetrators of my former cases do you have here?"

"Well since we operate off of the coast of Japan there are probably going to be a few that you recognize getting transported here. You of all people should know how many interesting youths exist in your country. And quite a few of them have been using their talents for purely criminal intentions. So there's bound to be a bit of overlap. But if you're that curious why not take a look for yourself? There's only eighteen being transferred in today. I have all of their case files right here," Eliza patted her satchel again.

"You're baiting me. You want me to take a look at them, don't you? Your little mind games might work on them, but they won't work on me," I replied with an added chuckle.

Eliza shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself. But our assignment for today is to have our first face to face with each one of them so it might be in your best interest to satisfy your curiosity now so you aren't so surprised later. Remember, for the next month you're my bodyguard and my assistant so wherever I go you go, whatever I do you do. Are we clear, Akechi-kun?"

I nodded and simply replied, "Yes, Abbott-san."

"Good, now sit back and relax. We'll be there shortly," Eliza replied. Then she went back to staring out of her window.

Then my eyes drifted back to her satchel. My curiosity soon got the best of me and I opened it up and retrieved its contents, eighteen different folders of varying sizes. Each one had a photo of the person that the file was about, paper clipped on the outside of it. And neatly printed on the outside of the folder was the inmate's name and prior offenses. They were arranged in alphabetical order by last name. To my surprise, I knew or at least had heard about quite a few of these individuals. And as for the ones I didn't know, I skimmed through each of their files to get a basic understanding of them. I bet you're interested to know what they said too, eh? Well unfortunately for you that would be spoiling, and I don't believe in spoiling a story. But we're already pretty far in and so far all you've met is me and Ms. Snooty over there, so I'll tell you what, I'll give you their name and one of their prior offenses. And hopefully you'll be able to determine what kind of person they are from that. As for the rest, well you'll just have to find out a little later. Alright, are you ready? Starting in order:

* * *

Aiso, Mana

Convicted Priors: Obstruction of Justice – 100+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Blood, Victor

Convicted Priors: Criminal Extortion – 100+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

DuMonte, Mireille

Convicted Priors: Criminal Trespassing – 100+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Inai, Taichi

Convicted Priors: Aggravated Harassment – 100+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Kaido, Opal

Convicted Priors: Possession of an Illegal Firearm – 50+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Ketsukari, Yoko

Convicted Priors: Criminal Facilitation in the First Degree – 50+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Kiriko, Koro

Convicted Priors: Mayhem in the First Degree – 20+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Kita, Noriaki

Convicted Priors: Criminal Sedition – 70+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Kojima, Yosuke

Convicted Priors: Criminal Accessory After the Fact – 50+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Kubikiri, Ginrou

Convicted Priors: Murder in the First Degree – 20+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Morita, Lucius

Convicted Priors: Assault in the First Degree – 50+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Otsuka, Hinageshi

Convicted Priors: Grand Larceny – 1 count

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Reveuse, Mirai

Convicted Priors: Information Warfare – 70+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Shimizu, Airi

Convicted Priors: Solicitation – 100+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Stavros, Damion

Convicted Priors: Narcotics Trafficking – 500+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Tachibana, Fuyu

Convicted Priors: Counterfeiting – 100+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Takenaka, Kaori

Convicted Priors: Desecration of a Corpse – 30+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Wick, Adam

Convicted Priors: Destruction of Property – 70+ counts

 **Redacted…**

* * *

Well can you guess their criminal talent from that? A few of them might be easy sure, but I hope I made a few of them hard at least. After all, what's the point of a mystery story if there's no mystery? Any mystery novel enthusiast knows that it's the little things that make the biggest impact. For instance, a concealed talent could have a bigger impact if it's revealed later on when the story is entering its conflict point. This is my story; I can be as mysterious as I want.

"Well, what do you think?" Eliza asked me.

"Six of them I know because I helped put them away, eight I've at least heard of, and as for the other four, this will be my first time meeting them. Tell me, this little experiment that you're planning on running out here. Am I a bigger part of it than you've led me to believe?" I asked.

Eliza smiled. "You're the detective, you figure it out."

I sighed in exasperation. "Before we go further let's get one thing straight. I've been hired to act as your bodyguard and assistant during your time in my country. I am not a guinea pig for you to use in your experiments, whatever they may be, and I am not some doll that you can make behave however you want. Let's keep our relationship purely professional, and at the end of the month I'll leave you to play with your dollhouse of a prison."

Eliza glared at me. "Just what kind of person do you think I am?"

"The kind with a hidden agenda. The dangerous kind. At first I thought you were just some spoiled, pompous little rich girl who had nothing but air in between your head. But it appears I've given you too little credit. You're planning something, and mark my words, by the time we part ways I will uncover what that plan is," I replied.

"…" Eliza frowned and then turned to face the window again.

I sighed again. 'Such a troublesome girl,' I thought to myself. Then I put Eliza's files back into her satchel and leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. At least for the few minutes we had left in our car ride, I wanted to get some rest.

And then a few minutes later, I felt the limousine come to a complete stop. I opened my eyes and then looked out my window to observe the scenery. The limousine was parked in front of a large white brick-laid building that took up almost all of the island's land. Although I said island just to clarify in the simplest terms. If I had to describe our current landscape it would be more like a large plain on a rock that jutted out of the ocean, which was several thousand kilometers below us. The building itself had a large steel plated emblem which hung over its entrance, a winged figure floating next to a large bright ball. The emblem symbolized Icarus nearing the sun, and nearing his death. An ominous warning indeed. I heard the chauffer get out of the limousine first, presumably he was coming to open the door for us. I turned to my left and saw that Eliza had also dozed off at some point. I tried to nudge her and wake her up. "Hey wake up. We're here." But she didn't open her eyes.

I got out of my seat and gabbed ahold of her shoulders in an effort to shake her awake. "Come on, we're very later. You can take a nap after we're done." But there was still no response, she didn't even so much as make a sound. That was when I first began to worry. "Hey, Abbott-san? Abbott-san?" I called out to her in a louder voice. Still, there was no response. I let go of her for a split second and she immediately fell back in her chair. Her body had gone completely limp. She was unconscious!

"How in the hell?!" I exclaimed. That was when I realized that the chauffer hadn't come to open the door for us yet. He had completely disappeared. I tried to open the door myself but to my horror I found that it was locked. I banged my fists on the window. "Hey, somebody help! She's unconscious!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. And then after a few moments of panicking I noticed that my movements were beginning to slow, my voice was becoming weak, and my eyelids were growing heavy. My eyes widened in realization. "The water!" I hastily grabbed my used water bottle and then sniffed the inside of the bottle. I detected a faint sweet fragrance mixed in with the water. Eliza and I were both drugged!

"The chauffer! He drugged us!" I could barely keep my eyes open at that point. I struggled to stay conscious as I kicked at the side door's window, in an effort to get the door open and get Eliza and myself to safety. But it was no use, the glass wouldn't break. Then soon my movements stopped completely. I couldn't move at all. It was like there was no more energy left in my body. In a desperate attempt to protect Eliza from whatever the chauffer intended to do with us, I grabbed her lifeless body and wrapped my arms around her. Whether I liked it or not, I was her bodyguard, which meant if anybody was going to do anything to her they would have to go through me first. "I'm not going to let anything…happen to you," I said to an unconscious Eliza. It was becoming hard to speak now. I used every ounce of strength left in my body to remain conscious for just a few more minutes, at least until help arrived.

But no one ever came, and soon my eyes started to close and my breathing softened. The last thing I heard was the door suddenly opening and a voice saying, "Finally. Our last two students have arrived." And then there was nothing but darkness and silence.

* * *

A/N: How was that for an opening? In the next part of the prologue we meet the rest of the students and begin the mutual killing game. Look forward to next Friday.


	6. Prologue, Part 2

A/N: Sorry this post was a week late, I got sidetracked handling an art project at school. But due to the recent hurricanes on my side of the United States, my classes are a little behind in assignments so I have a reprieve. So now it is time for Akechi and Abbott to meet their new classmates, as Icarus Juvenile Detention Center prepares for its upcoming mutual killing game. The rules are simple, if you kill your fellow inmate and get away with it, your rehabilitation is complete and you are free to leave Icarus once and for all. And almost all the contestants are vicious criminals who have no problem killing, where is this insanity going to go? Let's find out shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

 **Prologue, Part 2 – Locked up with criminals 9/18**

* * *

I thought for sure that the events in the limousine were the end for me. I was going to be killed along with Eliza Abbott for some unknown purpose. Little did I know, that our drugging and kidnapping was only the beginning of the horrible events to come. In fact, it might've been better if the two of us had died then and there. Maybe then we wouldn't have been forced to compete in such a savage game with people who I consider to be little more than savages themselves. Of course I didn't know what was in store for us at the time, or the fact that I had such a key role in all of it. But like I said before, the best mysteries always keep you guessing.

I don't know how much time passed during my blackout. It was like I was in a constant state between consciousness and unconsciousness, I could swear I heard things, I might've even saw some things I shouldn't have seen. But the fact remained that when I fully opened my eyes again, I had no recollection of what exactly transpired.

* * *

 **PROLOGUE: FOR THE CRIME OF HOPE, I SENTENCE YOU TO LIFE IN PRISON**

* * *

It began with a voice calling out to me. "Hey? Are you awake yet?" I stirred from my sleep and groaned loudly in reply. "Hey I think this guy's finally waking up," the voice said to someone else.

"We've been here for a few hours and he's just now waking up? Jesus, he must have been having some peaceful dreams," another voice replied.

"Do not speak the Lord's name in vain, you heathen," yet another voice replied.

"Would you cut the shit with that biblical crap already? No one here is buying it," another voice replied.

"Such insolence, you will be judged very soon for your words. God's wrath is already upon you," the other voice harshly replied.

Then I heard the first voice again. "Hey, come on. Wake up already. You're the last one here, which means you have to know what's going on, right?"

"What makes you think that? Odds are he's just as clueless as we are," yet another voice replied.

"We can't take any chances, and even if he's not involved somehow he could still be dangerous. I mean look at all of us for crying out loud. For Christ's sake, we've got two psychopathic killers in here with us already. Hey you, give me that cane. We can use it on him just in case," a new voice replied.

"Umm, this cane has been in my family for generations, so no. If you want a weapon, you'll just have to use something else. Of course you could always just talk to him when he's awake, or has that thought not crossed your insignificant little brain?" a condescending voice replied.

"Hey guys, he's waking up for real now!" the first voice exclaimed. I tossed and I turned and then finally I opened my eyes at last. And I was met with the sight of another boy standing over me. He was of Caucasian ethnicity, and he had thick, pale skin. He had a sharp nose and chin, but oddly enough he also had a soft pair of blue eyes. He was bald, and from the angle he was standing at I could see that he had a tattoo on the back of his head. The tattoo was shaped like a phoenix. He was wearing what appeared to be a yellow fire retardant suit complete with a pair of baggy pants and protective boots. He also wore a pair of thick, black gloves and a pair of protective goggles which were placed atop his forehead. He smiled at me. "Welcome to the land of the living, chum." He spoke to me in Japanese, which was odd because he was clearly foreign.

"Are you American?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah," he replied.

"So am I somewhere in America, right now?" I asked.

The goggle-headed boy shook his head. "No, right now you're in prison. It's some weird prison off the coast of Japan. Do you not remember how you got here, chum?"

My head was throbbing intensely, I massaged my frontal lobe as I sat up. Then I took a look at what I was sleeping on. It was a hard wooden bench that was chained to the wall, like in an old prison cell. Then I looked around and saw that there were more people inside the prison cell than just me and the goggle-headed boy. There were eight other boys who looked just as confused as I was. At that's when I realized that I recognized these boys from the files I read on the way here, and a few of them I knew already. I was behind bars with a bunch of criminals, not how I imagined my day going. I tried desperately to piece together my situation. "You said we're in a prison off the coast of Japan. So we're inside Icarus right now?"

"Oh yeah, that's what the name of this fancy joint is called, isn't it? I just got here today so I'm not really up on the take. But I got to say, so far this place blows. My old place was much better. At least there I had a cell to myself on my first day, but we've been stuck here in this overflow cell for a few hours now," the goggle-headed boy replied.

"But before that everything's a total blank," said another boy, who was sitting on one of the benches in the middle of the cell. He had well-kept dark brown hair which was styled into an undercut, with the sides cut long enough so that there wasn't an obvious difference in the hair length. It was styled in a way so that his hair kind of slicked back. He had lightly tanned skin which allowed his unique eyes to stand out. Both of his eyes started as a dark brown which slowly faded into a burnt amber color in the center. He had a fine stubble across his cheeks, around his mouth and chin, and on part of his neck. He was fairly well built and while not really muscular he did show some athleticism in his body and did appear to have abs and slightly larger than normal biceps. "I remembered getting transferred here today and then suddenly I blacked out, and when I woke up I was here. It's the same story for all of us, you too I imagine."

"So no one here remembers anything that happened after they blacked out?" I asked, to which all the boys replied with a resounding no. Nothing was making any sense. It was clear that whoever kidnapped Eliza and I wanted to make sure that we couldn't leave Icarus. If I was trapped in here with the inmates, I could only assume that she was also being held captive somewhere else in the prison. I had to find her and keep her safe, but first I had to find my way out of this dilemma I currently found myself in. And above all else I couldn't let any of these guys know who I really was. I knew for a fact that most of them were prone to violence, if I let my identity slip I knew that some of them wouldn't even think twice about killing me right there on the spot. They gave me questioning looks, they were clearly observing me just in case I did in fact turn out to be a threat to them. I simply stared back at them, giving them the impression that I wasn't concerned about anything. Hopefully that would avert their suspicion from me.

Now then, since it might be a while before I can get out of this situation, why don't I tell you the little bit I know about each one of my current cell mates. We'll start with the bald, goggle-headed guy.

* * *

ADAM WICK

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE ARSONIST

* * *

This is Adam Wick, or as he is known more prominently by his chosen alias, Firefly. He was apparently born to a very wealthy family and at a young age showed a great interest in chemistry. However, after experiencing a chemical fire in a makeshift lab he was working in, his interests soon changed from chemistry to fire. According to numerous open cases in the FBI, Wick is a suspect in over a hundred different suspicious fires, and fourteen unsolved attempted murders in which the victims were all given intense third degree burns. They could never pin the attempted murders on him, as he was suspected at the time to be involved with a notorious mass murderer known simply as the Outlaw, who was wanted for killing several suspects in open police cases. The authorities were able to catch both the Outlaw and Firefly, but unfortunately neither one of them turned on the other and several cases were left unclosed. The Outlaw was sentenced to death and Firefly got life in prison, since unfortunately the authorities could never prove that he was guilty of all those attempted murders. To think that this mental case would be in Icarus of all places. Did Eliza really think she could change him?

"By the way, the name's Adam, chum. Adam Wick," Adam suddenly said and then held up his hand.

I greeted his hand with my own and then shook it. "Kogoro, and if you don't mind I'd prefer to just stick to first names."

Adam chuckled. "Oh you're one of those kind of nutcases, eh? You think the entire world is out to get you, isn't that right chum?"

"I just always like to be on my guard," I replied.

"There was a guy I knew at my old place who said the same thing. He was convinced the CIA had implanted a chip under his skin and were monitoring his every movement. When he wasn't on his meds though it was a lot worse, he once tried to stab me because he thought I was an undercover government agent," Adam said in an effort to make small talk.

"Well I'm not schizophrenic, I'm just a little paranoid of others. I have a sixth sense about who I can trust and who I can't," I replied. "But from the sounds of it, it looks like you spent a fair share of your time in a prison psych ward."

"Yeah, well you say that you love fire like it was a beautiful girl and they're guaranteed to say you're crazy," Adam replied.

"A firebug, eh?" I replied, pretending like I didn't already know.

"Firefly, actually. And yeah, I've got a thing for Sweet Lady Flame. Ain't nothing wrong with that is there, chum?" Adam asked.

I shook my head. "No, but I have to admit I feel a little better knowing that you don't have anything to spark up on you right now."

Adam chuckled again. "True enough, true enough. Well how about you, chum? What are you in here for?"

"…" silence was my only reply.

"Don't feel like talking about it, eh? No worries, I'll shut up now. Nice chatting with you anyway, chum." Then Adam leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

I turned my attention back to the rest of my cellmates. Now then who should I discuss next? Oh, I know how about the guy with the eyepatch who's sitting in the corner to my right? Let me set the mood for you. He had long, straight black hair that went down to the center of his back and was tied in a ponytail. His right eye was a sharp crimson red, and his left eye was covered by a black eyepatch, but I could see a deep scar poking out of the eyepatches' corners. He had pale skin dotted with some scars here and there, and he also had a lean body build. He wore a black double breasted overcoat, over a white, long sleeve shirt. He also wore a pair of black jeans, a pair of white socks, a pair of black boots, and a pair of black leather gloves. He was staring off into space with his one good eye, he must have been trying to make sense of the situation as well. This my friends, is all that remains of the once tough as nails thug, Victor Blood.

* * *

VICTOR BLOOD

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE DEBT COLLECTOR

* * *

Like Wick, Blood was raised by a wealthy family in America. But they had very different upbringings. His mother and father, William and Lea Blood, were loan sharks with deep ties to the many crime families of New York. They were greedy beyond reason, always offering loans to the downtrodden and luxurious, and demanding immediate payment; some believe that they just loved the smell of money too much. In fact, they were so greedy that one day they decided to stop paying their debt collectors to go and collect money from their clients and instead opted to use their son as a free resource. For years they trained him in fighting, weaponry, and trickery until he became without a doubt one of the most notorious loan sharks who ever lived. But apparently there was some bad blood between Blood and his family, no pun intended. A few years ago he turned himself into the police, ratted out his parents, and destroyed their criminal enterprise in the process. And since then he's been what many in the corrections system call a model prisoner. He always keeps his head down and keeps to himself. I guess now is no different.

Victor soon noticed that I was staring at him. "What are you looking at?" he asked in annoyed tone. I also noticed he spoke fluent Japanese.

"Oh sorry, it's just I've never really seen anyone wear an eyepatch before. It's kind of cliché, don't you think?" I replied.

He smirked and then replied, "To tell you the truth I kind of hate it too. But people always tell me to wear it because my left eye creeps them out."

"Personally I think the dead eye itself is more intimidating than the eyepatch it's hiding behind," I replied.

Victor sighed and then said, "You have no idea." Then he went back to minding his own business.

Okay, that's probably all we're going to get out of him. How about I introduce you to the guy with the finely shaved beard from earlier? I observed the boy in question, he was staring down at the ground. He wore a light grey V-neck short sleeved T-shirt which was underneath a light brown long sleeved wool V-neck jumper which had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The top of the T-shirt was just visible out of the top of the jumper and both were untucked from his jeans. On his right arm he also wore a couple of leather bracelets as well as a watch with a leather strap. He wore fairly slim dark blue jeans which were turned up slightly at the bottom to reveal a pair of brown leather Chelsea boots. My guess was that he had a lot of things on his mind. According to his file, he definitely had some troubles.

* * *

YOSUKE KOJIMA

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE SABOTEUR

* * *

Yosuke Kojima's existence was an embarrassment to the police force. Why? Because for years he had manipulated several murder cases under the noses of even the most seasoned detectives. When he finally revealed himself to the world, the media anointed him the moniker of the Crime Scene Artist. A showy name for such an ordinary looking guy, right? Well I followed his case so if anyone can give you a good explanation it's me. For over five years Kojima had apparently remodeled crime scenes to fit a fabricated story he created. He had a small business of fixing problems that people found themselves in and helping them get away with murder by sabotaging the crime scenes and framing someone else. People close to him had felt the cold and ever domineering sting of the already overburdened justice system, and because of the law's negligence an innocent person in his life was accused of a murder they didn't commit. How do I know? I studied the case myself, and I found the true culprit, unfortunately that was only after Kojima revealed himself to the world. And by that time he had sabotaged crime scenes left and right and helped dozens of people get away with murder. He claimed at his arraignment that it was his justice, saving who he believed was innocent and punishing the truly guilty. Unfortunately, that lax attitude bit him in the ass and one of the innocent people he framed for murder received the death penalty. Since then, he's shown nothing but remorse for everything he's done but in the end it may not make any difference. So far he's received a life sentence for everything he's done, and the police still aren't finished unraveling all of his crimes yet. As it's going now, his ghost may end up serving time.

I never thought I would get the chance to meet the legendary Crime Scene Artist in person. I was surprised to learn that Eliza had taken an interest in him as well, I guess she took pity on him for all the remorse he's show so far. But still, even if life dealt him a bad hand it didn't excuse what he did. Thanks to him, countless murderers have gone free, countless innocent people have been wasting their lives in prison, and countless victims haven't received justice. Even if I did pity him, it didn't change the fact that he deserved to be here.

Yosuke looked up at me and found that I was staring at him. "What?" he simply said.

"I've seen you before, you're that guy who was on the news a few months back, the Crime Scene Artist," I simply replied.

"Crime Scene Artist?" a boy with cream colored hair who was sitting next to Yosuke seemed confused at Yosuke's moniker.

"…" Yosuke seemed troubled by that moniker.

"You haven't heard of him?" I asked the cream colored hair boy. "He's been staging crime scenes for years and making a business out of it. He confessed to all of his crimes but almost every single one of those crime scenes he fabricated landed an innocent person in prison. The police and the district attorney's office have been going crazy for months, trying to clean up the mess he's made. They're saying he may have even started a new revolution in criminal law, since everyone in the justice system hadn't noticed what he's been doing for over five years."

Yosuke sighed. "Yes, I was that person at one time. But I'm not anymore, I've learned my lesson. I tried to pick and choose who would get punished for a crime and it ended up blowing up right in my face. All I want now is to atone for my sins, and if that means spending the rest of my natural life in prison, then so be it." He pleaded with me. "It's Kogoro, right? Please, don't refer to me by that name. Just call me Kojima, or Yosuke if you prefer."

"Let's stick with first names for now, I have a nasty case of paranoia," I replied. "Sorry Yosuke, I promise I won't bring up your past again."

"So you've been sticking it to the country's justice system for years now, eh?" the cream colored hair boy asked Yosuke. "Screw revolution, I bet all you wanted to do was prove that you could do those asshats' jobs better than they ever could. I mean you got away with cheating them for five years, that's quite an accomplishment. And they never once doubted that the crime scenes you made were any less than authentic?"

"…" Yosuke simply looked away.

"Too humble to share your genius? It's okay, I recognize a fellow troublemaker when I see one. There's no shame in it, sometimes you just want to make the world pay attention to you. I can relate, everything I did was just for the sake of attention," the cream colored hair boy replied with a mischievous smile.

"And who are you exactly?" I asked.

"What you don't recognize God when you see him?" the cream colored hair boy replied and then chuckled. "I'm Noriaki Kita, also known as the Almighty Tenshi."

"Tenshi? You mean that detestable lout who spat blasphemy over social media one year ago?" a white-haired guy sitting at the back of the jail cell replied. "The one who wears the false title of God, you just said it was you correct?" He stood up and then made his way to the cream colored hair boy. The white-haired guy was carrying an old, black leather bible with him. "You dare mock God by pretending to be Him. God is almighty, all-knowing. He created all and will eventually destroy all. He is the Alpha and the Omega, and we are just ants compared to Him and His grace."

The cream colored hair boy snickered. "My dear sir, haven't you heard the news? God is dead. The old one at least. How else do you explain Tenshi rising to power so quickly? People wish for a God to rule over them. It's only natural, they want someone to believe in. But your God never delivers on anything. I played the role of God for one month and I changed the world completely. I'm a better God than your God ever was."

The white-haired boy grabbed the cream colored hair boy by his shirt collar and reeled him in. "You dare speak so lightly of the Almighty? May he smite thee blasphemous cur and deliver eternal damnation upon your soul."

"See that's why Tenshi is a better God than yours. Tenshi teaches love and acceptance, he treats each one of his followers like they deserve and listens to their prayers unlike yours. Tenshi is the one and only true God," the cream colored hair boy spat.

The white-haired boy pulled the cream colored hair boy up off the bench and raised him up in the air by his shirt collar, making him gasp for air.

This looks like it's going to go back and forth for a little bit so let me take the time to talk to you about these two, here's a big hint. I helped capture both of them, but they don't know. Shh, make sure to keep my identity as Kogoro Akechi a secret. Now first up is the Almighty Tenshi here. He had thick, wavy, disheveled cream colored hair that reached just below his mid back, with random shorter strands that stuck out in random directions. He had long bangs were pulled back with a light green hairclip that rested on top of his head, and half lidded violet eyes that gave him a disinterested appearance. He also had a pretty face with delicate features like a small nose, thin long eyebrows, and long eyelashes. And he also had three beauty marks underneath his right eye. He had a light olive skin tone and a fairly skinny and lanky build. He wore a slightly baggy pair of dark blue jeans with black shoes that had yellow accents. He also wore a pale blue button up T-shirt that was on the long side and reached a bit past his hips. On top of his shirt he wore an open dark grey hooded vest. The inside of the vest was covered with short silver fur that was only noticeable through the hood of the vest. And finally he wore two pairs of silver rings on his thumbs and middle fingers.

* * *

NORIAKI KITA

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE SMOOTH-TALKER

* * *

Noriaki Kita. There's only one way to describe him, trouble. A little over a year ago he was just your average everyday high school student, well not exactly average, he was actually pretty popular believe it or not. In fact, he was so popular that people created websites and blogs in his name. He became an internet icon without even knowing it. Now Kita had always been a trouble maker, but the guy appeared to be gifted with a silver tongue at birth, as any time he got into trouble he could immediately talk his way out of it. It even got to the point where people would do anything he would say just by feeding them compliments and attention. He takes positive reinforcement to a whole new level. Anyways, when Kita found out about his internet celebrity status he was a little shocked at first, after all he seemed to get famous overnight and had never actually done anything to garner such attention. But soon Kita realized something, his fans on the internet would do anything for him. And for a troublemaker like Kita, that kind of power was too addictive. He started meeting up with each of his fans individually and asked them each to do something illegal for him. It started with just vandalism and petty theft at first, but soon things got completely out of hand. They committed horrible acts against man and country all because it was the will of someone named Tenshi.

It was clear that a person who went out of their way to call themself Tenshi, had a pretty nasty God complex. But along with being an egomaniac, Tenshi was very cunning and secretive. It took the police months just to get a single solid lead on him. But after following the lead, I managed to track him down and find the face behind the mask of Tenshi. Noriaki Kita. The police came and arrested him and discovered just how far he was going to make his followers go. Kita was truly playing God; it was a horrid sight indeed. My identity as the person who unmasked Kita was kept hidden by the government out of fear that one of Kita's followers would come after me as vengeance. I never got the chance to meet Noriaki in person but after just spending a few minutes with him I could tell that all my theories about him were correct. He is another person who I feel is beyond redemption.

Alright next is the white-haired guy with the annoying biblical attitude. He had very long, flowing white hair and a pair of dull gray eyes. He wore a pair of black pants that were tucked into a pair of matching boots. He also wore a long black coat that was closed up, but open from the waist down; and on the front of the coat was a white cross, going down to the end of the coat which went down to the start of his boots. The coat also had a big collar that was popped up, making it kind of hard to see his face. The sleeves had also been folded to line up with his wrists and had a white line around the end of the sleeve that had been folded out and another at the wrist, it also had white lines connecting the two around it leaving black spots in between the white lines. And underneath his coat he wore a white dress shirt.

* * *

GINROU KUBIKIRI

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE EXECUTIONER

* * *

Ginrou Kubikiri, one of the few serial killers who have been transferred to Icarus. He is also the culprit behind one of the first serial murder cases that I ever consulted on. He is by all definition a fucking lunatic. But it's not all his fault. As I worked his case I began to learn more about him, from a young age he was raised to believe in a high moral standing and the legitimacy of the judicial system. His father, being one of the head prosecutors for the district attorney's office, acted as a role model to him and made Kubikiri believe in proper crime and punishment for all law breakers. Unfortunately, sometime around his early preteen years he became obsessed with religion, and his high moral standing caused him to delve into the depravity of religion and find a new obsession. Biblical punishment. His father, famous for always prosecuting on death penalty cases, arranged for him to see executions up close and personal during this dramatic change in his behavior. And the end result was not pretty. Within a few years Kubikiri had managed to convince his father to let him play an active part in the executions, and eventually he became the one to do the deed himself.

But soon thereafter he found that the judicial system was not as perfect as his father made it out to be. Criminals got away on technicalities, and innocent people were reprimanded and punished without a second thought. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and tracked down people he believed were truly deserving of "divine retribution". Each of his victims were brutally murdered using different execution methods, and he would have continued his work had I not caught on to him. However, instead of receiving a much deserving death penalty himself his father pulled some strings to get him admitted to a mental hospital, claiming that his job as an executioner had driven him temporarily insane. But I knew the truth, Kubikiri wasn't insane. He knew full well what he was doing, he just didn't care. He was delivering his own cold brand of justice by killing people. And that made him just as bad as the criminals he executed.

"Insolent brat, God shall be praised and all false idols shall be destroyed," Ginrou spat into Noriaki's face. "The punishment for your defiance and blasphemy shall be…"

"Hey tall, dark, and freaky," another one of the boys called out to Ginrou. "Seriously cut it with all the religious crap, you're giving me a freaking headache. If the little snot nose wants to think he's all powerful, let him. What concern is it to you?" I saw that the guy who dared speak out against Ginrou was sitting on a bench on the opposite wall of me. He wore a dark gray ascot hat and carried a dark brown cane with a round, silver handle.

"You, with a look as mischievous and cunning as Lucifer himself, why do you defend a person who calls himself God?" Ginrou replied coolly.

The boy with the cane shrugged. "What can I say? I admire people who dare to dream big. The brat wants to think he's some all-powerful God, I say why not? If we don't dream big, we live small uneventful lives that never amount to anything."

"You're saying I should forgive this weak, pitiful coward who dares call himself the Almighty?" Ginrou asked.

"I'm saying that you should let him do and say whatever he wants. He has his beliefs, you have yours. Why do you have to fight at all? Why do you let the idiotic things he says get to you so much?"

"…" Ginrou was at a loss for words.

The boy with the cane scoffed. "You see this is exactly why there's still fighting going on in the Middle East. My God is the true God, yours isn't and because of that I'm going to kill you. When you get right down to it, none of that shit makes any sense."

Ginrou let go of Noriaki and sat him back down on his bench. Noriaki coughed hard as air filled his lungs again. Ginrou didn't pay him any mind though, he was now focused on the boy with the cane. "Do you think you're above divine retribution as well? Lucifer Incarnate?"

"Actually, I don't believe in any religion. It's all too messy for my taste, the only thing I have complete faith in is the process of supply and demand. I'm a businessman you see, and a rule I've learned in presenting myself as such is not to mix business and personal beliefs. That's why, I really don't care what you do. I just didn't want you to kill that kid in here, there's no telling how long we'll be in here and I don't want to have to deal with the smell. Plus, all your religious bull crap was kind of getting on my nerves," the boy with the cane replied in a condescending tone.

"…" Ginrou was speechless. Clearly he didn't expect someone to so carelessly stand up to him. But after a few moments the surprise wore off and he simply glared at him. "This is not over, you demon in a suit." Then Ginrou walked back to his bench in the back of the cell and sat down.

Noriaki had finally gotten his breathing back under control and said something snide under his breath. "Told your ass," he snickered.

"And you, shut the hell up or I'll come over there and beat the crap out of you myself," the boy with the cane said to Noriaki.

"…" Noriaki immediately went quiet.

"Finally, maybe now we can have a little peace and quiet," the boy with the cane said as he closed his eyes and rested.

Alright, next up is this charmer. Damion Stavros. He had thick, curly dark brown hair that reached the top of his ears. And he also had a handsome face with fair skin and very few blemishes with hazel colored eyes. Along with his dark gray ascot hat, he wore a dark gray three-piece suit with a dark purple long sleeve button up shirt, a black tie, and a pair of black dress shoes.

* * *

DAMION STAVROS

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE BLACK MARKET KING

* * *

You would probably think with how this guy acts that he would be some kind of criminal mastermind, am I right? Well you would be correct. You're looking at one of the youngest and most notorious criminal kingpins in the world. His father owned a freighter shipping company set out of Greece that was actually a cover for a huge black market smuggling operation. In his childhood, Stavros watched his father deal with both businesses and eventually went on to take them over after his father passed away. Since then Stavros has been revered as one of the most conniving, backstabbing, moneygrubbing, and threatening criminal kingpins of Europe. It took Interpol years to build a case against him as he had a nasty habit of reading people and killing off anyone who was disloyal to him. Or anyone who got in the way of his business for that matter.

It was hard to believe that just a few months ago he was on top of the world and had his hands in counterfeiting, narcotics, weapons, prostitution, and stolen goods ventures. But that kind of success made Stavros really cocky. And now he was serving eight consecutive life sentences in prison with no possibility of parole. It just goes to show you, crime doesn't pay.

"Can I help you with something?" Damion asked with his eyes still closed. "I can feel you staring at me. It's annoying, please stop."

I looked away from him without so much as a reply. 'That guy's got unrealistic insight.' The rumors about him were not exaggerated. I decided to look at another person in order to escape Damion's mental eye. A boy standing near the front end of the bench Damion sat on peeked my interest. He appeared to be leaning on the bars of the cell, and I could hear him muttering to himself. "Hey what are you doing to the bars anyway?"

The boy fiddling with the bars turned back to face me. Then he replied, "If you must know, I'm busy picking the lock on the cell door."

"Lock?" I repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, this is a really old-school cell. The only thing that's keeping this door from opening is this bulky, ancient-looking lock," the boy replied.

"And why would you try and do that? This is prison, we're supposed to be here. If they catch you trying to escape you'll probably end up with even more time," I replied, trying to be the voice of reason.

"That would be the case if this was normal imprisonment, but it's not. You've only been awake for a few minutes so you don't know, but I was one of the first people to wake up. We've been stuck in here for hours, maybe even all day. And I haven't seen a single guard in that whole time. Isn't it against regulations to leave prisoners unattended for that long?" the boy replied.

My eyes widened. 'They haven't seen a guard all this time? That really is odd. It's extremely dangerous to leave prisoners unsupervised, especially with criminals like these guys.' I got up from my seated position and walked to the front of the cell to join the boy picking the lock. I peeked outside the prison cell we were in and took note of the area. It definitely wasn't normal; it was almost like something out of a dungeon. The corridor was made entirely of cobblestone and was dimly lit by torches, and it looked extremely damp. 'Could this be one of Icarus' lower levels? But I took a full tour of the prison yesterday, I don't remember seeing any place like this.' I looked to my left and took note of the narrow staircase that led up to the unknown. Then I looked to my right, and saw that there were several other unoccupied prison cells as well as an old wooden door that led to another area. I also took note of the large lock that the boy was attempting to pick. It looked incredibly old and rusty, and all the boy had on him was a paperclip. He was obviously having a hard time. 'If this is Icarus like those guys said, then they must have purposely kept me from this area on my tour. But why?' Then a horrible thought crept into my head. 'Are they really planning on doing something illegal here?' I was only kidding when I mentioned human experimentation to Eliza, I knew she was up to something but I didn't think it would be something like that.

Then my thoughts were quelled with a fact that I had since forgotten. 'Wait, no Eliza was drugged too. If she was behind this it wouldn't make sense to drug herself, unless she thought I might think that way, in which case she might've drugged herself to cover her tracks.' Then I shook my head. 'No that's stupid, I'm overthinking this. Some third party is responsible for this. Maybe instead of Eliza, Icarus is really taking orders from someone else, maybe even her father.' I continued to study my surroundings, looking for any detail that stuck out. And then I finally saw what appeared to be a security camera tucked into a corner, it was hidden by the shadows but I still managed to make it out. "Hey, there's a security camera over there," I told the boy picking the lock.

"Where?" he replied.

I pointed it out. "To your right, lean back a little bit. It's tucked away in that corner, see it?"

The boy did as I instructed and then he nodded in reply. "Okay, I see it now. That's kind of a weird placement, isn't it? You can't tell if we're all in the cell from that angle."

"No, based on the way it's pointing, I'd say all it's doing is monitoring the corridor," I replied.

"Okay, see what I mean? No guard patrols and even the cameras are wonky. This is not a legitimate prison no matter how you look at it." He then started furiously thrusting his paperclip in the lock's keyhole. "We have to get out of here, or else they might just leave us here until we die."

I didn't want to admit it but I was starting to become paranoid as well. 'Is this really Icarus? Or is this place somewhere else entirely?' I asked myself. I took in a deep breath. 'Calm down, you're not going to get anywhere acting all paranoid. For now, just learn whatever you can. This guy seems to be the only one who's taking any of this seriously.' I looked back to the boy who was busy picking the lock. "So how long have you been at that anyway?"

"About an hour or so, I'm usually pretty good at picking locks but this one is proving to be a problem. Nevermind the fact that I'm forced to do this at a weird angle, my real concern is this piece of shit lock. It's like all the tumblers inside of it are rusted," he replied.

While he's busy, let me tell you some more about this handy individual. His name is Lucius Morita, and his background is relatively unknown, but I'll tell you what little was in Eliza's files. But first, let me paint a picture for you. He had long, blonde hair that went over his ears, and a pair of monochromatic eyes, his left eye being brown and his right eye being green. And he also had lightly tanned skin along with above average musculature. He wore a white plaid over-shirt and a black T-shirt along with a pair of faded dark blue jeans and a pair of black tennis shoes.

* * *

LUCIUS MORITA

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE ARSENAL

* * *

What little is known about Lucis Morita is not pretty. He is quiet at times, usually only conversing with those who talk to him first. But underneath that timid exterior boils a seething hot pool of rage. It goes back to his childhood which was rocked by the tragic death of his father who was shot during a home invasion gone wrong, in response to this, Lucius let out his anger and tackled the robber to the ground and then went on to relentlessly pummel him into submission. The robber later died from sustaining multiple contusions to the head. Morita had actually murdered a man with his bare fists. As the years went on he became increasingly detached from reality due to the trauma he suffered. In order to protect himself and those around him he began building an arsenal of sorts, and mastered the craft of making weapons and tools from scratch. However, there was one slight problem. While he could make these weapons and tools, he could not use them himself as he demonstrated to the officers who arrested him. He couldn't even handle the kickback from a regular pistol.

The police in turn figured that Morita had a lucrative side business of selling weapons on the streets to gangs and criminals, however this remained to be proven as they could never find a single one of his supposed buyers. To this day Morita insists that the weapons were for protection and nothing else, which is ironic since the reason he was arrested by police in the first place was because of a string of assaults on several people, who were all violently beaten within an inch of death. Like I said, Morita has a very explosive temper.

"Does it sound like you've gotten any of the tumblers unlocked yet?" I asked.

"I think I have two so far, but I'm not really sure how many tumblers are inside this lock so there's no telling how long it will take," Lucius replied. "I can handle this, so just go back and sit down. I'll tell you when I've made any more progress."

I nodded in reply. "Alright call me if you need anything," I said.

I noticed that upon leaving my seat, one of the other boys who were standing took possession of it. A boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes slouched back in my seat on the bench. He appeared to be deep in thought about something. Of what I could only imagine. Although I had a pretty good idea of what since I knew who he was. I decided to make my way to the back of the prison cell, where there was still some elbow room. I ended up sitting on the bench at the back of the cell with Ginrou, of course I sat down at the very end of the bench so he wouldn't get any ideas about talking to me. I could not handle that guy right now. However, that may have been a mistake because I ended up sitting close to another psychopath. He had black hair and cobalt blue eyes. He was squatting down on the floor and was huddled into a ball. He appeared to be muttering something into his hands. And that was when an awful smell caught my attention. It was a smell I had known for a while. The smell of decay and decomposition.

I chanced a look at the psychopath in question and then I saw that he was staring right back at me through an opening made by the crevice between his arm and leg. "What do you think of this guy, Kiwi? Do you think he'll be our friend? The other guys in here are so mean to us, all because they're jealous of our friendship." He appeared to be talking to his hands, or rather to something inside his hands. He brought his hands down to the floor and brought his head up into the light so we could talk face to face. "Hello there, would you like to be friends?"

"…" I was quiet.

"It's okay if you don't, after all usually no human wants to be my friend. I like animals better than people anyway, they all want to be my friends. There's not a bad seed amongst them. My favorite animal is the bird, what's yours?" the black-haired boy asked.

"Umm, if I had to say…I guess, a dog?" I replied uneasily.

The black-haired boy nodded in a pleased manner. "Dogs are cute, and they're man's best friend after all. I always wanted a dog, but my parents would never get me one. So I ended up getting Kiwi instead. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Kiwi's cuter than any dog imaginable. He's my pride and joy, my best friend, my whole world. Do you have a best friend?"

I shook my head. "Not particularly, no."

The black-haired boy frowned. "That's so sad, even if you had one friend that would be your best friend. But the fact that you don't even have a best friend means that you don't have any friends. Is that right?"

"No, I actually don't," I replied.

Then his sadness changed to joy in an instant. "Well then, like I asked before. Do you want to be friends? You could be friends with Kiwi too, that way you could have two friends."

"I'm not sure," I replied.

"Please? Please be my friend. I know I said I didn't mind, but it would actually mean a lot to me if I had at least one human friend. Please be my friend," the black-haired boy pleaded.

I sighed. "Alright fine, I'll be your friend."

The black-haired boy chuckled in glee. "Yay!" And then he went back to talking to the thing in his hands. "Did you hear that Kiwi, he said yes! We have a brand new friend to play with! Isn't that great?!" And then he lost interest in me automatically and began conversing with the thing in his hands again.

Alright these two are the last ones here so what do you say we go ahead and get our introductions over with? First, let's start with the guy who stole my seat. He had short, dark brown hair which looked a bit messy, as well as narrow brown eyes which seemed absent-minded due to the fact that he was currently staring off into space. His face was quite handsome but not extraordinary. He was of average height and physique, and both his arms and his upper body were covered in bandages. He wore a green and white checkered shirt, a matching pair of shoes, and a dark pair of jeans. He seems to be one of the most average-looking ones, doesn't he? Well looks can be deceiving, behind that ordinary appearance lurks a wicked and sadistic mind.

* * *

TAICHI INAI

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE STALKER

* * *

Taichi Inai is by far one of the most disgusting people imprisoned here at Icarus. You've probably heard of the term "yandere", right? It's meant to describe a character trait of a person who mistakes obsession for love. The person they "love" becomes their whole world, and they spend every waking moment making sure that it stays that way. Yanderes can be very violent, and Inai is no exception. It started sometime around his early teen years, he began to obsessively watch people and spend all his time studying each person who peeked his interest. He claimed it was because he wanted to see each person's true self that they would only show in private. Soon he became infatuated with a girl who went to his school and that's when his odd behavior took an even worse turn, he began to follow her and make meticulous notes of her daily schedule. Then he started to record her when she wasn't looking, he recorded everything. Her voice, her laughter, even her breathing patterns. Then he would break into her house and steal things and even threaten the people in her life. It finally ended with him watching the girl sleep, that was when she finally realized she was being stalked. But before anything could be done about him, he disappeared without a trace.

Though she was just the first of dozens of victims. He always had the same pattern, which made the police realize after a few dozen or so cases that he was a serial offender. It took years to finally catch him, he was just that good. And unfortunately the price to finally catch him came at the crushing loss of innocence from his last victim, who's hand he broke, finger by finger in a mad sadistic rage. Now before you ask, no he wasn't one of mine. He was the case a former colleague of mine was pursuing. By the time she came on he was already nearing his tipping point, and thanks to her he was caught before he ended up killing one of the many objects of his affection.

'It's kind of ironic that both him and her are locked in here together. I wonder what will happen when they come face to face. Dammit Eliza, you're playing with pure fire,' I thought to myself. Then I turned and looked to my creepy neighbor. Alright, he's one of mine. He had a heart-shaped face, cobalt blue eyes, a small pointy nose, and light tan skin. He had an average body build, but he was slightly skinny and had faint scars scattered all over his body. He also had slightly long, slightly spiky black hair with small strands in front of his face, and two silver bangs that fell to the side of his head. He wore a white ripped-up T-shirt with a long black, unbuttoned, leather coat over it. He also wore a pair of black cargo shorts with a red strap belt hanging down on his side, a pair of long white socks, and a pair of black leather boots that reached his ankles. Ready to hear his tale? Get ready, it's a creepy one.

* * *

KORO KIRIKO

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE TORTURER

* * *

Koro Kiriko is one of the most deranged individuals I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. At a very young age he was diagnosed with a delusional disorder and it was determined that as he aged his mind would further and further regress until he was basically a child within a man's body. Shortly thereafter he became enamored in the art of sewing and took it up as a hobby to keep his mind occupied. He was actually pretty good, the control he had over a needle and thread was something extraordinary for a child his age and a child with his mental illness. But when he turned twelve things began to take a turn for the worse. One day Kiriko found an injured pigeon and tried to care for it, only for the pigeon to treat him with nothing but hostility. Something inside Kiriko snapped and a thought occurred to him, a way for him to "fix" the relationship between him and the pigeon. He grabbed a needle and thread and with amazing control, he sewed the pigeon into his own hands. The pigeon died of blood loss, but he remained unaware of the fact, or even of the fact that he injured his own hands by running a needle through them. The only thought in his mind was that the relationship between him and the pigeon was "fixed". And he went on to take the dead pigeon in as a pet, one he affectionately named Kiwi.

After that Kiriko became filled with the desire to "fix" more relationships, thinking of it as his purpose in life. He started with his own parents, who constantly fought all the time. He knocked them out with sleeping pills and sewed their still alive bodies together. When they woke up he continued to torture them mentally and physically for days, until finally they died from blood loss and mental exhaustion. After successfully "fixing" his parents' relationship, he went on to "fix" the relationships of other individuals. Luckily, I stopped him before he could get to double digits. Kiriko personally doesn't know why he acts the way he does, it might be because he's not able to recognize the fact that he isn't normal.

"You said your name was Kogoro-chan, right?" Koro suddenly asked me. "My name's Koro, let's be the best of friends," he said with big smile on his face. Then he uncapped his hands and showed me what exactly he was hiding, the decomposing skeleton of a bird. "Promise you'll be friends with Kiwi too." It was very odd, the lifeless bird wasn't sewn to his hands anymore and yet he still carried it only in his hands.

Victor saw that I was talking to Koro. "That guy's a freaking nut, isn't he? That's why none of us bothered talking to him."

I nodded in agreement. Koro appeared unable to hear our conversation as he affectionately petted his bird, it was almost as if he was in his own world. And then I sat quietly for a few minutes and thought things over, until finally I heard a very sweet sound. _Click_.

My ears pricked up as I stared at Lucius' back. I could see the others guys staring at Lucius as well, they were also eager. Lucius turned to face us and smiled as he held up the lock to the cell as if it were an award. "Good news, guys. We're free to go."

* * *

A/N: Sorry these aren't all the introductions, this post ended up being longer than I intended it to be. But don't worry, I'm already halfway through with the girls' introductions so I should be finished sometime this weekend, and two posts in one week will make up for not posting anything last week. Please bear with me, I'm writing as fast as I can.

Further notes: Some of you OC writers may have noticed that I added certain details to your characters, I hope you like them.


	7. Prologue, Part 3

A/N: While Akechi spends his time with the male inmates, why don't we check in on Abbott and see how she's doing with the female inmates? But first, just so you guys know I didn't intend to write this post this way as I never intended for the role of protagonist to be shared between Akechi and Abbott. I thought about it doing that at first but I reconsidered because I thought it would be too needless and wordy. But after looking at the reviews for the last post it appears a lot of you want to see Abbott's point of view in all this as well. So from now on I will have parts in the story which are specifically told from her POV. I'm not going to promise that this is going to happen all the time, as I still plan for Akechi to be the main protagonist, but hopefully it will happen just enough so you guys can have your fill of her.

Speaking of which, I'm so glad everybody likes Akechi and Abbott so far, and I'm glad that you all thought I was able to portray the male OCs perfectly. Let's hope I can do as much justice for the female OCs, fingers crossed.

Notes for reading: (Eliza/Kogoro): Means narration, normally the narration would just be specified with pronouns like you or I but since we're suddenly changing narrators this is to specify who's talking during the change. Instead of completely printed word, think of it like an anime's narration.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

 **Prologue, Part 3 – Locked up with criminals 18/18**

* * *

"Are you for real?!" Noriaki exclaimed.

"Good on you, chum!" Adam exclaimed.

"Nicely done," said Damion.

Lucius chuckled. "Weren't you the one who said it was a meaningless effort to waste my time trying to pick the lock?"

"I retract my previous statement, you get a gold star," Damion replied in a condescending tone.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's leave while we still can," said Noriaki.

"Hang on, while I agree that all of this is a little suspicious I don't think we should just make a run for it," said Yosuke. "What if this prison really is on the up and up? We could get even more time added to our sentences for trying to escape."

"I agree, I don't want to make unnecessary trouble," said Victor.

"I'm already serving eight consecutive life sentences, more time added is of no concern to me," said Damion. "Plus, that's only if we get caught, or are you too much of a wuss to even try to escape?"

"Be forewarned, if any of you vile demons dares try to escape I will execute you where you stand," said Ginrou in a threating manner.

"Aren't you serving time here too? Don't you want to leave at all?" Taichi asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Yeah, you idiot. For once think of the bigger picture. You want to serve God, right? Well right now, God wants to get the hell out of here," said Noriaki. "Listen to Tenshi's infinite wisdom and let us go."

"Blasphemous cur! Do not order me around! I only follow orders from the one true God! I am a weapon for him to use as he sees fit! And what God wants is to punish the guilty! So I warn you again, try to escape and I will strike you down without hesitation!" Ginrou shouted.

"Look why don't we make a deal? You help us escape and once we're outside the prison walls you can kill all of us if you want," said Damion.

"I know better than to trust a vile snake like you," said Ginrou. Then he sighed. "However, I must admit it would appease God's vengeful wrath if more guilty sinners are punished by me. Very well, I will help you until we have escaped to the safety of the outside world, but not a second longer. The moment we step outside I will execute each and every one of you without mercy."

I sweatdropped. "Not even going to give us a head start?"

Lucius groaned. "Are we going or not?! Come on, this is becoming tedious!"

"Yes, we're going. Come on guys, pull it together. I don't know about the rest of you but I do not want to spend the rest of my life in this cramped cell," I replied.

"Fair point," Yosuke said with a sigh. "Alright I guess, I'm in too."

"You hear that Kiwi?! We're going to be as free as you! We get to fix even more people! Yay!" Koro exclaimed.

Lucius kicked open the cell door and it open with a loud metal _clank_. "Come on men, to freedom!" he exclaimed.

And one by one we filed out of the cell, Koro being the last one to exit. Damion took note of the staircase ahead of us. "To the stairs, they should get us out of here." Then we all started to make a break for the staircase.

* * *

STORY PAUSE

(KOGORO'S VERSION)

* * *

(Eliza): Not so fast, you're getting ahead of yourself Akechi-kun.

(Kogoro): Abbott-san?! Why are you trying to take over my story? At this crucial point of all times too?

(Eliza): You forget yourself, Akechi-kun. We're supposed to be telling this story together, remember?

(Kogoro): What? I don't remember this being in the script. Where the hell is the director?

(Eliza): It was a last minute change. We still have to introduce the rest of the cast and the director thought I was better fit for that role.

(Kogoro): What? Why? This is supposed to be my story.

(Eliza): I don't know. Why would they choose me of all people to replace you? Oh wait, I've got it. I'm a girl, of course I'm a better fit to introduce the other girls.

(Kogoro): That's not true, I was planning on introducing the other girls when I came to save you.

(Eliza): Oh right, because one guy talking to me and nine other girls in a span of a few minutes isn't weird. Just accept the script change, it's actually better this way.

(Kogoro): But how are we even going to plan this out? I come to save you and the others in a matter of seconds.

(Eliza): Elementary, my dear Akechi-kun. We'll simply rewind time. We're outside the story now, the laws of physics don't apply to us.

(Kogoro): That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I guess it's kind of a standard trope. Alright, proceed. I kind of wanted to take a break anyway.

(Eliza): Very well, now sit back and observe how a real narrator does it. Now then, hello young readers. From this point forward this is my story, so I please ask that you treat me like you normally treat Akechi-kun. The story will remain the same, the only difference is I'm doing the narration now so things are going to be a little more cheerful from here on out. All set? Good. Then let's begin. I woke up around the same time Akechi-kun so we'll rewind the clock back…let's say…fifteen minutes.

* * *

STORY PLAY

(ELIZA'S VERSION)

* * *

"Hey, can you hear me?" I heard someone call out to me. "She's still not waking up, what should we do?"

"She's been knocked out for hours now. Do you think she might not ever wake up?" I heard another person reply.

"If she doesn't, then we may never know the reason behind our current living space," another person replied.

"Wait, what do you mean?" the second person replied.

"You don't recognize her? This is our current supervisor and warden. She should've come and talked to each one of us about relocating here. Or at least she told me as much when she came and visited me," the third voice explained.

I heard another person gasp. "That's right! I knew I recognized her from somewhere! She's the girl who knows Kogoro-kun! She told me if I agreed to come here I could see him again!"

"Wait, did you say Kogoro? His last name wouldn't happen to be Akechi would it?" the third person asked the fourth person.

"Yes, it is. Do you know him too?" the fourth person asked in a curious tone.

"Somewhat," the third person replied. The third person sighed in exasperation. "Troublesome Goro."

"Wait did you bitches just say the name Kogoro Akechi? That name sounds familiar. Why? Could I have taken a bite out of him? Or maybe someone close to him? Describe him more, you filthy whore!" a fifth person suddenly shouted.

"Filthy whore?!" the fourth person exclaimed. "You don't have to be so mean. If you want to know more about Kogoro-kun I'll tell you. First of all, he's a priva… _Kyaaaaa_! Why did you just pinch my butt?!" the fourth person asked.

"Sorry, your ass looked so delectable that I couldn't help myself. I give it an 8/10. Minus two points for being attached to used goods," the third person replied.

"Why is everybody so mean to me?!" the fourth person replied in a blubbery tone.

With all the noise I started to stir. "Hey, if anybody still cares, I think she's starting to wake up," the first person said, clearly annoyed with everyone else.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but when the first person tried to nudge me awake, I swatted her away and said in a sloppy manner, "Ugh…five more minutes."

The first person giggled. "That's not very lady like. Is it really that comfortable lying on those benches? My back still hurts from them."

"Come on, please wake up! You've got to talk to me about Kogoro-kun! It's been forever since I've seen him! You have to tell me what he's been up to!" the fourth person exclaimed.

"Ugh, stop screaming you dirty whore! You're giving me a migraine!" the fifth person screamed.

"You are a horrid human being, what I've heard about you is dead on accurate," the second person replied.

"Say that again you little chubby cunt, I dare you!" the fifth person replied.

The noise was getting on my nerves, in an effort to cover my ears I reached for my pillow so I could cover up my ears. Keep in mind, I thought I was just sleeping in my regular bed at the time. And instead of my soft, squishy pillow I found myself grabbing something else…ahem…something that I'm even more embarrassed to admit was even softer and squishier than my pillow. " _Kyaaa_! Umm…could you not touch me there. That area's very sensitive," the fourth person said in an odd manner. It sounded like she was twinging in pain.

"Why is the pillow telling me not to touch it?" I asked myself. "It's so soft and squishy, I want to bury my face in it."

"Umm…I appreciate your honesty…but like I said…that area's sensitive," the fourth person stuttered.

I was getting annoyed. In a fit of anger, I sat up on the bench and opened my eyes. "What is so God dammed important that I can't sleep in my own bed in…" then I got a look at my current surroundings, I was in a prison cell with a bunch of other girls, "…peace." Then I looked to where my right hand was and saw that I wasn't grasping my fluffy pillow, but the right breast of another girl who was incredibly busty. Her face was as red as a tomato and she looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Could you…please…let go?" the bust girl muttered in a low voice.

Without another thought I retracted my hand. "I'm so sorry! I…I was still dreaming! I thought you were my pillow, and I…I was grabbing on to you for comfort!" My face now matched the busty girl's face in color.

"It's okay, like you said you were still dreaming," a girl with light brown hair assured me. "Besides, Airi-chan won't hold anything against you. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Right, Airi-chan?" she asked the busty girl.

The busty girl took in a deep breath and then she nodded. "Yes, it's quite alright. You were actually pretty gentle for the most part."

A girl who wore a muzzle and a strait jacket cackled madly at the busty girl's comment. "If anybody knows how to rate that shit it would be you, you dirty whore!"

"God would somebody shut her up already!" a girl with dark brown pigtails shouted. "Every other word out of her mouth is an obscenity! Not to mention that annoying cackle of her's! She sounds like an honest to God witch!"

The muzzle-wearing girl stared at the girl with the pigtails, and then she began to lick her lips in a disgusting manner. "You know something? You're starting to look really tasty."

The girl with pigtails immediately began to cower and in mere moments she found herself hiding behind a white-haired tomboy. "Make her go away, Opal! Make her go away!" she exclaimed.

The tomboy glared at the muzzle-wearing girl. "Touch her, you die," she said in a cold manner.

"…" The muzzle-wearing girl found herself temporarily fazed. The tomboy had a really nasty death glare.

"You bit off more than you could chew…though in your case that's probably literal," a girl who wore a puffy sweater said to the muzzle-wearing girl.

The muzzle-wearing girl simply growled at the puffy sweater girl.

"What is going on?" I asked myself. "Where am I? And who are all of you?" I asked.

"Who are we? Isn't that question a little out of place to ask? After all, you came and visited each one of us in person, did you not Ms. Warden?" a girl who wore a rabbit-eared deerstalker hat asked.

"Ms. Warden?" I repeated in confusion. And that's when I realized that I knew who these girls were. I had met with them each individually weeks ago. I had presented them with the opportunity to come to Icarus where they would live in a modest state of luxury in exchange for the opportunity to study them. But that begged the question, why was I in a prison cell with them? I got up from the bench I was sitting on and made my way to the cell door. I peered through the bars and examined the surroundings. I recognized this place, this was indeed part of Icarus. Or rather, an area below Icarus. "How did you all get here? How did I get here? You were supposed to be brought to your individual cells up above. But why are we all down here instead?" I asked aloud, knowing full well the girls had as many answers as I did. Which of course was none.

"So this is Icarus then?" the girl who wore the rabbit-eared deerstalker asked.

"Yes, or rather it's an area below Icarus. You see, before my family purchased this island we did some research on it. It turns out that it once housed another prison which was used centuries ago to house Japan's worst criminals. Anyone who was shipped to this island was never seen again, a sentence here meant being erased from the Earth itself. Even mentioning the name of a person who was sent here was considered taboo and punishable by death. An inmate here did not have the right to exist, they were blocked from the sunlight, chained to the walls, and given just enough food and water to make sure they lived a long time and went mad from the darkness and despair that this place evoked. There's no real record of this place existing. Why would there be? People who came here didn't exist as well. There are only rumors, and in those rumors this place is only known by one name. 宮殿 の 絶望 (Kyuuden no Zetsubou), the Palace of Despair," Eliza explained.

"So if I'm hearing you correctly, then right now we're in the ruins of that prison that's not supposed to exist, right?" the girl with the puffy sweater replied.

Eliza nodded. "We were planning to have it remodeled eventually, and use it as solitary confinement. But until that project gets pushed through, no one's supposed to set foot down here…" I examined the surroundings and saw the security camera tucked away in the corner of the hall, "…this place has already been remodeled without my knowledge." I turned back to face the others. "Trust me, it looked a lot worse the last time I saw it. The stench of decay and despair was caked into the walls. Someone had it restored right under my nose."

"And how exactly do we not know that you're really behind all this nonsense?" the girl with the dark brown pigtails asked. "This could have been your plan all along. We already know that you're kind of twisted in the head to have such an interest in us. Who's to say you're not twisted enough to pull some elaborate experiment using this horrible place?"

I gasped. "No, I would never. This is far too barbaric, even by the standards of ancient prisons. The things they did here, even if it was to people who were considered too horrible to even exist, it's unforgivable. Please, you have to believe me, I had no intention of harming or letting you be harmed in any way. All I wanted to do was help you. I don't know what exactly is going on here, but I promise I will find out and put an end to it. I swear, as long as I'm around nothing bad will happen to you."

The girl with the dark brown pigtails glared at me. "I still don't trust her."

The white-haired tomboy shrugged her shoulders. "Mirai is entitled to her opinion, but I'm going to take the high road on this one. I'll trust you for now."

"Opal, you're supposed to be on my side!" the girl with the dark brown pigtails exclaimed.

"I guess the fact that you're imprisoned with us is enough cause to erase your suspicion…for now at least," said the girl who wore the rabbit-eared deerstalker hat. "Very well, you have my trust as well, Ms. Warden."

"I'll trust you too Eliza-chan. You may not remember, but you were very nice to me when I met you before. It felt nice, not being treated like a common criminal for once," said the girl with light brown hair.

The other girls agreed to give me the benefit of doubt as well…for now at least. A small victory I suppose. But let me just be clear to you guys as well, I am not behind this. My true motives for creating this prison may be at this time unclear to you, but please rest assured I am not out to hurt any one of my inmates. I truly from the bottom of my heart want to help them. Total reformation always has been and always will be my goal for the future. For them…and for myself. "Okay then, let's get down to business. Can anyone remember what happened to them before they woke up here?"

"I remember traveling in a police van, I was being transferred here at the time. And then suddenly I passed out, and when I woke up I was here," the girl who wore the rabbit-eared deerstalker hat replied.

"Same here," said the busty girl.

"Me too," said the girl with light brown hair.

It was the same for everyone. We all suddenly passed out in route to Icarus. Some of them remembered drinking some water that they were given, which was what happened to me as well. Others remembered feeling a sharp prick before passing out. It appeared that we had been drugged in different ways, but the end result was the same. We all woke up here after an unknown amount of time had passed. Someone went through a lot of trouble with drugging and kidnapping us. But why? And for what purpose? Oh well, it was clear that those questions weren't going to be answered at that moment. So why don't we get to the introductions now? Where to start? Oh I know, how about we start with our friendly, neighborhood busty girl?

She had curly voluminous reddish brown hair, hot pink colored eyes with magenta and pale pink eyeshadow complementing her well done black eye mascara look, and clear lightly tanned skin. She was very busty, especially for a girl her age. It was actually kind of a physics mystery as to how her skinny body frame could support that bust size. She wore a maroon baby doll silk dress that ended near her thighs, and there was a ribbon sash wrapped around her waist with a bright chocolate brown bow on the back with tails. She also wore black translucent stockings, maroon flat shoes with a bow on the front strap, a pink star barrette in her hair, and a silver charm bracelet with a rocking horse, clover, heart and diamond charm on it which was worn on her right wrist. She also carried a large magenta and black designer handbag, which was slung over her right shoulder.

* * *

AIRI SHIMIZU

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE PROSTITUTE

* * *

As you might've guessed from her appearance, Shimizu's crimes are of a sexual nature. But it's not her fault that she does what she does. When she was a child, her parents died in a plane crash and she was sent to live with her aunt. Shimizu may disagree, but her aunt was a horrible human being. She had a bad gambling addiction and soon enough found herself up to her eyeballs in debt. So around her preteen years when her body started to develop, Shimizu was forced by her aunt to sell her body so she could pay the bills for the both of them. All the while, the only job her aunt ever had was lounging around all day and then going out at night and gambling away the money that Shimizu earned by letting men defile her over and over again. But Shimizu never held her troubles against her aunt, it's just not in her nature to despise somebody that much.

Now you're probably asking yourself, how was Akechi-kun connected to someone like Shimizu, right? Well, how does anyone who works with the police come to know someone in her line of work? Sex crimes. Around her sixteenth birthday, Shimizu's aunt found herself in debt to a local gang of Yakuza, and she ended up offering her niece as payment to them. Horrible, right? It gets worse. It's just not in Shimizu's nature to think less of others, no matter how much they hurt her. Which is why she couldn't come to grasp with the fact that her aunt sold her. Akechi-kun happened to be working on a sting operation with the police to bring down the Yakuza gang and end their sex trafficking trade. On the day of the raid, Akechi-kun rescued Shimizu personally. She was crying, and he just wanted to make her feel better. So Akechi-kun promised that any time she needed him, he would be there for her. It was about a month later when he heard she had been arrested for solicitation. It wasn't like she had a choice to go back to that life though. Where was she supposed to go? Her only remaining family member sold her after all. Akechi-kun only visited her once in prison, but that was to mainly tell her off for being so stupid. He told her, all she had to do was ask for his help and he would be there, and yet she didn't choose to rely on him. After that she wrote to him sometimes, but he never wrote her back. Sad, isn't it? I nearly cried when I heard her story myself.

"So Eliza-chan, is Kogoro-kun here with you too?" Airi asked me.

"As far as I know, yes. He was with me when I was drugged so I assume they got to him as well," I replied.

Airi looked worried. "I really hope he's okay. I have to see him again; I just have to. If only to tell him that I'm sorry I let him down. Does he know that I'm here?"

I nodded. "He knows, but he didn't say anything about you personally. I'm sorry, I know that's probably not what you want to hear."

Airi sighed. "It's fine. He was really upset with me last time anyway. He might not even want to see me at all. And I can't blame him for that." She was trying to not get so depressed about it, but I could tell just by looking at her that she meant the opposite of what she said.

I remembered thinking one thought then. 'Could she possibly love, Akechi-kun?' After our conversation, Airi sat down on one of the benches inside the cell and decided to spend some time alone with her thoughts.

Alright then, next how about we talk about another person Akechi-kun knows well? I'm talking of course about the girl who wore the rabbit-eared deerstalker hat. She had messy orange hair that was tied into low hanging twin tails, a large, bright aqua-colored right eye (her left eye was covered in bandages and hidden behind the tip of her deerstalker hat), a fair skin tone, and a slim and petite figure. Her outfit, as Akechi-kun might describe could be considered as something out a Magical Girl detective themed children's anime. Her bunny-eared deerstalker hat was lavender in color and she wore it over her bandaged left eye. She also wore a purple cape that was knee length, tied with a ribbon, tartan patterned, and had two bunny-shaped front pockets. In addition to that she also wore a mandarin white shirt that was not only sleeveless, but the torso was dress-length and hid a pair of cargo shorts with many pockets, a pair of white knee socks, and a pair of brown loafers. This my friends, is the whimsical bunny-themed "detective", Yoko Ketsukari.

* * *

YOKO KETSUKARI

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE NAPOLEON OF CRIME

* * *

Yoko Ketsukari, by far one of the most interesting inmates that I scouted for Icarus. Little is known about her early childhood, mainly because she herself doesn't even remember it, or her real name for that matter. She was found, dazed and confused, one day by a boy who would later become her brother and best friend. The young boy named Lavy lived with his uncle, a former detective, and from a very young age had an interest in becoming a detective as well. Ketsukari soon developed an interested in the art of detection as well and from then on she and Lavy decided to become junior detectives and solve any case that they came across. What started out as solving innocent, childish cases in their youth soon blossomed and matured into the detective pair forming a club of youths that focused solely on crime fighting. Using their new resources, they put their efforts into solving some of the toughest and most mysterious criminal cases imaginable. However, there fun would soon end when they took on a famous serial murder case known simply as the Black Goat murders. Ketsukari and Lavy were actually very close to solving the case but unfortunately a nosy reporter soon leaked their findings to the media and the culprit behind the Black Goat murders focused their sights on them. Out of fear of their lives, some of the other members of their club deserted them, but a few loyal ones stayed behind. And in the end Ketsukari, Lavy, and the other members were ambushed by the serial killer. They escaped but at great cost.

They lost all the evidence and one of their members. Many people criticized their efforts, saying that their targeting the Black Goat killer made him agitated and even worse than before, and as a result the club was officially disbanded. That's when Ketsukari started to change for the worse. She started a private business of criminal consulting after the foul up with the serial murder case. Her logic at the time was that if criminals didn't play fairly then why should she? So she decided the best way to catch criminals would be to lure them into her own personal spider web by promising to help them with their crimes and cover up the indiscretions that they left in their wake as well. But what she was really doing was gaining the criminals confidence so she could later gain all the evidence she needed to take them down and deliver them to the police. She purposely increased the notoriety of each criminal she helped so when she caught them her fame would increase along with it, as well as her recognition as a true detective. The government soon recognized Ketsukari's efforts and was about to make her an honorary detective like Akechi-kun. But Akechi-kun later discovered Ketsukari's side business and exposed her as the fraud and criminal she truly was. It's been about a year since then and Ketsukari has shown some remorse for all the crimes that she helped facilitate. But in the end the cruel justice system doesn't care about forgiveness, only punishment.

Yoko reached into one of her cargo shorts' pockets and pulled out a pink tobacco pipe. "Want some, Ms. Warden?" she offered me.

"I don't smoke," I replied.

"Neither do I," Yoko replied as she brought to pipe up to her mouth and took a bite out of it. "They're candy tobacco pipes, a variation of candy cigarettes sold overseas. I used to eat five of these a day, but I haven't had any in months. They're kind of hard to get in prison. So I've been saving my supply for when I was really craving them. Sitting here in a cramped cell, waiting out possible death for unknown circumstances seems like as good a time as any to break them out."

"How have you been hiding those this long anyway?" I asked.

"Trade secret. And if you're worried about them being stale, don't worry it's a mix of hard candy and gum so it keeps for a long time," Yoko replied. "So again, I ask. Want some?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a yellow candy tobacco pipe.

I accepted the candy and nibbled on it. "Mmm, this is really sweet."

"Sugar helps the brain, and God knows we need all the brain power we can muster right now to get out of here," Yoko replied.

"Well there's just a lock keeping us from getting out of here. Do you know how to pick locks by any chance?" I asked.

"Of course I do; what kind of detective do you take me for?" Yoko asked in a condescending tone.

"You mean former detective, you were arrested, remember?" I replied.

"Touché, Ms. Warden. Touché. But it doesn't really matter, I tried earlier but I think there's something wrong with the lock. There's something inside the keyhole that's preventing the tumblers from being manipulated. Someone must have sabotaged it. We've got no choice but to wait and see what happens for now," said Yoko.

"That's easy for you to say you little bunny bitch! I can't stand being in here much longer! I'm fucking starving! I haven't eaten anything all fucking day! I was supposed to receive my daily protein supply when I arrived here, and now I'm on the verge of breaking down!" the muzzle-wearing girl exclaimed. Yoko produced a blue candy tobacco pipe from her pocket and presented it to the muzzle-wearing girl. The muzzle-wearing girl growled and smacked the candy out of Yoko's hand, and the candy fell down to the dirty floor below.

"Hey that was good candy!" Yoko exclaimed.

"Shut the fuck up! I don't need any of that disgusting, sugary shit! I need meat! You hear me?! Protein! Nothing else will do! I'm a fucking carnivore! Nothing else will satisfy me!" the muzzle wearing girl exclaimed. Then she calmed down and weird look appeared on her face. She smiled at Yoko and flashed her gnarly, sharp canine-like teeth. "Like rabbit meat. You look very tasty right now." In response to the muzzle-wearing girl's advances, Yoko moved back away from her and closer to me. The muzzle-wearing girl looked at me with pleading eyes. "Please, you know about my dietary needs. I need protein or else I get very, very cranky."

"I'm fully aware of your condition, unfortunately I don't have what you need on me right now. You're just going to have to wait," I replied.

"You're asking the impossible, you stupid bitch! I need food!" the muzzle-wearing girl shouted in my face.

Before things get out of hand, let me tell you a little bit about Ms. Congeniality here. Her name is Kaori Takenaka, and she's another interesting inmate I selected for Icarus. Why is she interesting exactly? Well basically, her dietary needs make her interesting. Takenaka is a cannibal. That's right as in a person who eats people. But before I explain any more let me tell you more about her physical appearance. She was tall and so skinny, that her bones were nearly visible. Her skin was quite pale, as if she had never been out in the sunlight and lacked vitamin D immensely. Her hair was long, wild, and purple in color and it covered her ears and the right side of her face. Her eyes were red and her lids were baggy, making it seem like she was sleep deprived, and she had long, sharp canines like a vampire. She had a visible scar on her bottom lip, and she only had one arm, her right arm. She wore a plain white straitjacket that restrained her arm, and a custom made muzzle that looked like a freaky bear trap. The muzzle had multiple tubes on the side that were linked to a special device that was strapped to her like a backpack. She also wore a pair of stretchy black pants that were torn near the ankles.

* * *

KAORI TAKENAKA

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE CANNIBAL

* * *

Kaori Takenaka's life was never perfect, but it took an even more drastic turn when her father died in a car accident. Her mother was devastated by the incident, so much so that she started to get hysterical, saying that Takenaka would die if she ever left the house. And so her mother began to lock her inside for her "protection". This went on for a few weeks until they ran out of food, but despite that, her mother refused to let her leave. More weeks passed and eventually Takenaka tried to eat anything she cold find, including bugs, dirt, and carpet fibers. And then she eventually snapped and in a state of delusion she grabbed a kitchen knife and cut off her left arm and ate it. Her mother was horrified when she found out what her daughter had done, but when she tried to stop her, Takenaka lunged at her and sunk her teeth into her neck. It was the first "real meal" she had in over a month and she loved every bite of it. And after that she broke out of her apartment and began killing unsuspecting victims and eating them for over the span of a month before she was finally caught by the police, and our lovable Akechi-kun who at the time was only a kid himself. Apparently he had stumbled upon one of Takenaka's feedings by accident and led the police straight to her.

She was in pretty bad shape when she was finally arrested. She was like a rabid dog who was ready to bite anyone and anything that crossed her path. And so, she was heavily rehabilitated for six years until she could finally talk "normally" again. This was around the time that I visited her in her mental asylum, and promised her that with a little time and her continued effort I could one day cure her of her insatiable need to consume human flesh. Her behavior was learned after all, animal instinct took her over to maintain her survival, which meant that with a lot of work there was a way for her to become fully human again.

Kaori started whimpering like a dog. "Please, I'm starving. You have to have something on you. It doesn't even have to be raw, it could be well done for all I care. I just need meat."

Then someone waved a stick of beef jerky in front of Kaori's face. The white-haired tomboy offered Kaori the beef jerky. "Here, it's been in my pocket since I got locked up. I just got these clothes back this morning before I was transferred here so I had no idea I had it on me. I sometimes eat this when I'm hunting and have to stay stationary, they're good for keeping up with energy. But like I said it's been in my pocket for quite some time so it's probably exp…"

"Stop teasing me and just give it! Put it through one of the holes in my muzzle!" Kaori shouted.

"Try and bite me, you die," the white-haired tomboy replied in a threatening tone. Then she inserted the beef jerky into one of the holes in Kaori's muzzle, and Kaori happily chewed every bite of it.

"Opal, you shouldn't feed the animals so carelessly, this isn't a zoo," said the girl with the dark brown pigtails.

"Don't worry Mirai, she's in no position to attack," the white-haired tomboy replied. Then she gently stroked Kaori's back as if she really was an animal. "Good girl."

When Kaori was done with the beef jerky she replied, "Thank you for the food, but don't you dare treat me like a dog again you stupid, little bitch." Then she went off to sit in a back corner by herself. There was another girl sitting in the back who hadn't said a word up to this point. When Kaori came close to her, she simply moved further away from her. Apparently she had no interest in conversing with the cannibal.

"See Mirai, all bark and no bite," the white-haired tomboy replied.

"You're too careless, Opal. One of these days that attitude of yours is going to get you killed," the girl with the dark brown pigtails replied.

"Aww, lighten up. I'm not going to leave you. If I did you'd be completely lost without me. I don't want that on my conscience," the white-haired tomboy replied with a giggle.

The girl with the dark brown pigtails puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "You're so mean, Opal."

Alright, why don't I introduce you to these two next? Mirai Reveuse and Opal Kaido, childhood friends that act more like sisters in arms. Their previous occupation was in corporate espionage, where they would sell their skills to the highest corporate bidder under the alias of the incredible duo of Hack Attack.

Mirai had dark brown hair that she wore up in buns with pigtails. The pigtails went down to her back. She had side swept bangs, as well as a pair of curious orange eyes. Her skin was somewhat pale, and she had a tattoo of a fragmented part of a star on her left hand. And she wore purple arm warmers that almost covered her hands completely and went up past her elbows. She also wore a white tank top, with a somewhat sweater-like purple skirt hiked up to her waist, a pair of brown boots, a pair of white stockings, and a pair of thick, square, black glasses.

Opal had short, somewhat messy white hair that gave her more of a masculine look, with cold, blue eyes. She had a peach color to her skin and a fragmented star tattoo on her right hand. She wore a white dress shirt, with a black vest that started at her waist, paired with a maroon tie. She also wore a black pair of slacks, with a pair of maroon tuxedo shoes, and a golden watch. And her tie had a white rose brooch pinned to it.

* * *

MIRAI REVEUSE AND OPAL KAIDO

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE HACKER AND ULTIMATE HITWOMAN

* * *

Little is known about Hack Attack's past, save for the fact that they have been friends since childhood and are never seen apart. A few years ago they first appeared as a rumor in the criminal underworld. They would accept any task given to them as long as the pay was good, and due to their particular skills most of their clients were major corporations with very questionable business methods. Reveuse, a master hacker had a reputation for being completely untraceable. She had made her and Kaido's cyber footprint virtually non-existent which is why it took so long for them to finally be tracked down. While Kaido, a master Hitwoman had a reputation for always getting her target. She actually thought of each assassination she was given as a hunt and her target her prey, and had a bad habit of leaving a calling card at the scene of each one of her assignments. A single white rose. Finally, after years of off the books operations, the police managed to find one of Hack Attack's clients who was willing to cooperate in order to finally put the duo behind bars. When they were finally caught, people were shocked to find out that the mysterious duo was actually just two teenage girls with a knack for causing mischief. But their impressive client list speaks for itself.

"So Abbott-chan, may I ask you a question?" the girl who wore the puffy sweater suddenly asked me.

"Well technically you just asked me a question," I replied with a giggle.

She laughed. "Right, anyways I just wanted to know if by any chance the cameras installed down here were your idea as well."

I shook my head. "I didn't even know this area was already being refurbished, much less that security cameras were being installed here."

She nodded in understanding and then produced a small little ball from her bag and showed it to me. "And you don't know about these either then?"

"What's that?" I asked in reply.

"It's another camera, albeit a tinier one. I found it earlier, it was wedged in a small opening in the wall back there," she pointed to the back of the cell. "I'd wager there's one in each cell in here, and counting the one that's monitoring the corridor, this entire area is under surveillance. If you didn't order surveillance for this area, then may I ask a follow-up question?"

"…" I nodded in reply.

"Are the other areas of Icarus also this heavy with surveillance?" she asked.

"No…or at least they shouldn't be," I said in an unsure tone. "They must have been added without my knowledge, I swear. There's a difference between security and knowingly disrupting privacy."

"Really? You think so? I actually think it's brilliant. I was going to applaud you on the efforts you've taken here. In my personal opinion, you can never have too many cameras when dealing with a prison exclusively for master criminals. But if you didn't do it, then that means the person who ordered us to be drugged and kidnapped did. It appears we're about to stumble into something very interesting. Truth be told, I thought coming here would be kind of boring but now it looks like things are heating up. I think I'm going to hold onto this little guy, and if our overseer really is watching, maybe have a nice little one-sided conversation with them. Anyway, that's all I needed to know. Tata." Then the girl who wore the puffy sweater, looking very giddy, fluttered off to the other side of the cell.

"Hmm, she's very interesting. What can you tell me about her?" Yoko asked me while she continued to nibble on her candy.

"Not really anything," I replied.

"Hmm? How do you mean?" Yoko asked.

"All I know is her name, other than that she's a ghost," I replied.

"But how is that possible? I thought you interviewed each and every one of us personally? Didn't you choose her as one of the inmates to be transferred here?" Yoko asked.

"Everyone except for her. One day my father told me that he was fine with me having total control over Icarus as long as I allowed him one tiny request. He wanted one of the eighteen inmates I selected to be a girl named Mana Aiso. He wouldn't tell me why, and when I asked for her file, the one I received had everything in it redacted. The only part of her file that wasn't blacked out was her name and a list of prior offenses. Other than that, she's a complete mystery.

She was a short chubby girl with dark rimmed, black glasses who wore a big puffy cream white turtleneck sweater, under which she wore a white tank top. She also wore a pair of loose, dark black jeans, and a black messenger bag over her shoulder that had several red and gold tags hanging off of it and a red stripe around it. In addition to this she had a set of three golden coins on a necklace made of red ribbon. Her shoes were simple complementary latte brown loafers. Her hair was a dark brown in color and was smooth and short, framing her face down to around her chin before flipping up at the ends with an ahoge that stuck up but curls a bit into a slight swirl. She had a soft face that seemed to constantly have a mellow, slightly amused expression on it with round chartreuse-colored eyes.

* * *

MANA AISO

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE ? ? ?

* * *

All I know is her name and the fact that she's had trouble with the law. Over a hundred counts of obstruction of justice is no joke. But other than that, I have no idea who she is.

"Ooh, a girl of mystery, eh? Sounds just like my type. I love a good mystery, especially when it involves a cute girl," said the girl with the mask. She sat down next to me and Yoko and impeded in our conversation. "At first I was thinking that no one here is my type. I mean just look around." She pointed to Airi. "She's clearly got a thing for this Kogoro guy." Then she pointed to Kaori. "She is clearly crazy." Then to Mirai and Opal. "The two of them clearly have repressed feelings for one another." Then she pointed to the girl with light brown hair. "She's clearly straight." Then to the girl who hadn't said a single word yet. "And her…actually her I can't get a read on."

"Well here's one mystery solved, you're clearly gay," Yoko replied.

"Oh thank you! Yes, I'm typically very happy," the girl with the mask replied.

"Not what I meant, I meant the fact that you like girls," Yoko clarified.

"Oh you meant the modern day version of the word. You have to clarify, the Lupin bloodline has been around for centuries. As a matter of fact, I'm the seventh reincarnation of Arsene Lupin. I've lived many, many lives so it's hard to keep the languages straight. You're just lucky one of my past lives was lived in Japan otherwise I wouldn't be able to understand you at all, dear detective. You are a detective aren't you? The rabbit façade aside, your appearance strikes a chord within me that I've haven't felt since I did a battle of wits with a man who wore that same kind of outfit."

"Do you mean Sherlock Holmes?" Yoko asked with a sweatdrop.

"Sherlock Holmes? Who is this man you speak of, some cheap imitation? I'm talking about the great detective Herlock Sholmes," the girl with the mask replied. "Yes, he and I shared quite the daring battle of wits. I would pull a heist and he would try to figure out where I would strike next." She sighed in reminiscence. "Good times."

"You know I've been in here with her for hours and I still haven't been able to figure it out," Yoko whispered to me. "Does she really think she's Arsene Lupin? As in the fictional gentleman thief?"

"Yes, she does," I replied in a whisper. "But her real name is Mireille DuMonte."

"I heard that! Mireille is merely the vessel through which the great Lupin bloodline flows! She is not the greatest thief in the world! I am! I have to remind people over and over again! Mireille DuMonte is not me!" the girl with mask shouted at us. Then she calmed down and sighed in exhaustion. "That spat made me very weary. I think I shall retire, let us finish our conversation another day." Then she walked over to the opposite side of the cell and sat down next to the girl who hadn't spoken yet. In response to this the girl who hadn't spoken yet decided to come over to Yoko and I's side of the cell. She sat down on the bench a few centimeters to our right.

Anyways about Mireille. She had an athletically fit build, toned muscles, ample bosom, and freckles on her cheeks like me. She also had a pair of bright blue eyes, and long black hair done in a braid that reached the middle of her back. She wore a dress black shirt, a white bow tie, a white overcoat worn unbuttoned, and a pair of white gloves. Her mask was white in color and of the china domino style, with gold leaf around the eyes. She also wore small ruby earrings in both of her ears, a white top hat with a red silk band around the brim, a mid-calf-length white cape, white long-legged pants, a pair of black socks, and a pair of black wingtip shoes.

* * *

MIREILLE DUMONTE

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE PHANTOM THIEF

* * *

Mireille DuMonte was born in a small town in Northern France. Ever since she was able to read, DuMonte was enamored with the adventures of Arsene Lupin and his daring heists. She dreamed of being just like him and getting the world abuzz with her exploits. At the age of thirteen, she was about to attempt a daring robbery of her local jewelry store. However, an attack of nervousness caused her to scrap the job before it began. Upset, but undeterred, DuMonte began an extensive training plan designed to better her agility and her lock picking skills. Finally, two years later, she debuted her thief persona Lupin VII by pulling a night-time robbery of the very jewelry store that proved so daunting before. Snagging over one-hundred million Euros in loot, the only trace of her that the police could find was a card with the words "Lupin VII was here".

Over the next two years, Lupin VII moved on to bigger and more elaborate heists culminating in the amazing theft of the Crown Jewels of England during a globally broadcasted visit by the Queen. Appearing out of thin air, she took the jewels from their case, smirked and left. The police were led on a five-hour chase before they lost sight of her and gave up. I remembered seeing part of the chase first hand as my family was at the palace during the Queen's visit. Truth be told, I was actually sort of rooting for Lupin VII. I was kind of sad when she was finally caught by the Turkish police for her final failed heist. But I was so excited that I would actually get the chance to meet and study her in person. To be honest, I was star struck the moment I met her. And then I actually met her and saw just how demented she truly was. Don't meet your heroes.

"She completely believes that she's Arsene Lupin VII," I explained to Yoko. "Since she's been caught she's never once responded to the name Mireille DuMonte, and she refuses to take off that mask. She takes role play to a whole new level."

But enough about Mireille, let's move on to the next inmate. Why don't we talk about the silent girl now? She had short, thick white hair that reached her chin, her bangs framed and concealed most of her face, and she had a crescent moon-shaped ahoge on the top middle part of her hair. Despite her white hair, she had brown eyebrows. She also had purple cat-shaped eyes and she had slightly tan skin. She was lightly on the chubby side but not unhealthy, which showed in her slightly chubby cheeks and pear shaped body. She had a mole on the bottom corner of her right eye and she was slightly flat-chested. She also had deep bags under her eyes. She wore a long, oversized pastel-blue sweater-jacket that covered most of her hands, over a white, puffy-short sleeved button up shirt with a bow cravat and peter pan collar. She also wore a light-purple plaid skirt, a pair of white and soft thigh highs, and a pair of brown Japanese loafers. She also wore a pair of purple glasses, a purple choker around her neck, and a purple artist's beret on her head. And she carried a brown, leather messenger bag that she was hugging tightly.

* * *

FUYU TACHIBANA

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE FORGER

* * *

Now just by looking at this girl you can tell she's an artist, right? Well unfortunately, she's not a real artist. Though if you told her that she would probably get very upset. Since she was fifteen, Fuyu Tachibana has dedicated herself to becoming a master forger. It began at first as just a need for money to pay for her younger sister's medical bills. She sought out a conman who would be able to steal the money she needed to help save her sister's life. Then a conman named Haru appeared and he noted her beautiful penmanship skills. Tachibana had always had a love for art and calligraphy and over the years she had developed her penmanship to a very unique degree. Haru promised to get the money on one condition - Tachibana would have to team up with him by forging signatures for the rest of his conman days. She accepted his offer and began to become the forger she is today, learning everything she now knows from her conman mentor.

From phony documents to phony art pieces. In total, the amount of signatures she has forged is up in the four-hundreds and she remembers how to forge each and every one of them. So I guess, in a very criminal-like way she is a true artist, as it took three years before anyone caught on to her.

Fuyu caught me staring at her, but instead of trying to flee from a conversation again she simply stared back at me. "Hi, it's been a while Tachibana-chan."

After a few moments of silence, she nodded and replied in a dead-pan voice, "Yes."

"Hey there's something I've been meaning to ask you. The first time I met you, I signed a form to push through your prison transfer right in front of you. Do you by any chance remember how I signed my name? I realize it may seem demeaning to you to have to do this on command, but I was just cur…"

Before I could finish my sentence, Fuyu opened her messenger bag and retrieved a sketch pad and a pencil. She flipped to a blank page in her sketch pad and then pressed her pencil to the paper and began doodling. Then in mere moments she stopped moving her pencil and tucked it away behind her right ear. Then she showed me the sketch pad and I was surprised to see that she had copied my signature down to the last detail from seeing me write it just once. She even got the little flower that I used to dot the "i" in my name right. "How's this?" she asked.

"It's amazing. You really have an extraordinary talent," I replied.

"If it was really extraordinary, I wouldn't have gotten in trouble for doing it," Fuyu replied as she put her pencil and her sketch book back in her messenger bag. Then she turned away from me and decided that she wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

Alright one more to go, what do you say we go ahead and finish this up? You remember the girl with the light brown hair who was really nice to me before, right? Currently she was taking a little nap, I guess the excitement before was a little too much for her. Anyways allow me to describe her a little more. She had wavy light brown hair that reached just above her shoulders, soft almond-shaped light blue eyes, and fair skin that was slightly tanned. She wore a dark gray sweater with a white collar, a white skirt, a pair of black leggings, and a pair of black thigh high boots with white laces.

* * *

HINAGESHI OTSUKA

SOON TO BE DECLARED: ULTIMATE EPIGRAPHIST

* * *

Hinageshi Otsuka took an interest in the world of archaeology and history, due to her fascination with her parents' work as archeologists. She quickly learned about various graphemes and histories that her parents told her about. She identified many inscriptions on rocks, pillars, temple walls, copper plates and other writing material around Japan, showing that her talent was not a joke. She became one of the youngest epigraphists in the history of archeology. But soon things took a bitter turn when her parents and several other archaeologists discovered a newfound archaeological site. Somehow, several epigraphs and artifacts appeared in Otsuka's bag. It caused quite the ruckus because they were new discoveries about the Kamakura period. Both parents were shocked and immediately protested that Otsuka wasn't a child who would take what belongs to everyone, but the other archaeologists already annoyed with how their hard work almost got stolen by some kid refused to give Otsuka the benefit of the doubt.

She was arrested and charged with the theft of the priceless artifacts and she's been in prison ever since. To this day, she claims her innocence and insists that someone planted the artifacts in her bag. But due to the fact that there was no evidence relating to this theory, no one would ever hear her out. No one except for me. From the moment I met her, I don't know how exactly, but I just knew deep down that she was innocent. The reason I wanted her to come here to Icarus is because I felt that if I had the opportunity I could help her get her case overturned and help her get her life back on track. Of course she doesn't know about my goal yet.

Well then, that's all of them. Quite an interesting bunch, eh? A prostitute, a former detective, a cannibal, a hacker, a hitwoman, a ghost, a phantom thief, a forger, and a girl who may or may not be innocent. Now then, things have finally caught up with the present. Let's see what happens next shall we?

* * *

A/N: Next time, the inmates are finally introduced to the mutual killing game and of course Warden Monokuma. Look forward to Friday.


	8. Prologue, Part 4 (Finale)

A/N: The time has come at last, for our new mutual killing game to be begin. Boy oh boy, are the inmates in for a nasty surprise awaiting them upon their escape. Let's see what happens shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

 **Prologue, Part 4: No escape**

* * *

STORY PLAY

(ELIZA'S VERSION)

* * *

Alright, now where did I leave off? Oh right. Unbeknownst to us the boys were about to escape their cell. Good for them, right? Well unfortunately for us, we were about to have a little problem on our end. A problem in the form our lovable, cuddly cannibal, Kaori.

Kaori started to breathe heavily. Softly at first, but with each passing moment her breathing grew louder, and louder, and louder still, until her manic breathing patterns echoed off the cell walls. Her eyes became completely blood shot, and she started to frantically grind her fang-like teeth. Then she began to visibly shake. We could all tell immediately that she was losing it. All the girls that were still on her side of the cell quickly made their way over to my side of the cell.

"What the hell is wrong with her?! Is she having a panic attack?!" Mirai exclaimed.

I was terribly frightened. I knew what this meant. "Worse. Much worse. It must be 5:00 P.M. now."

"What's so bad about that?" Airi said in an equally frightened tone.

"It's her dinner time. If what she said about not being fed all day is really true, then that means she's already skipped two meals. Her doctors told me that in order to keep her diet under control they fed her three times every day at extremely specific times for years. It's gotten to the point where her body automatically knows when she needs to eat. 5:00 P.M. means that it's dinner time now," I replied. "And if that's the case than that means she must be really hungry."

"I…I can't take it much more…" Kaori muttered as she took in deep breaths.

"But I gave her a strip of beef jerky just a few minutes ago," Opal reassured us.

"That wasn't nearly enough. The doctors told me that the amount of meat she must be fed in a day can be no less than 11.4 kg, that's the equivalent of a large predatory cat's daily diet. Any less than that, and things get really ugly," I explained.

"Why the hell would you put such a freaking psychopath in here with us?!" Mirai shouted at me.

"I never thought I would be in the same room with her when she hasn't eaten!" I shouted back.

"No more…so hungry…so hungry…" Kaori desperately tried to keep her cool. But soon her stomach began to roar in hunger pains. "So hungry…so hungry…so hungry…" she repeated over and over again.

"But we're safe as long as she's in that jacket and wearing that muzzle, right?" Opal replied.

"…" I didn't respond.

"Right?!" Opal exclaimed.

"I…I don't know. She's never been off her diet before. Considering her animalistic nature, maybe not," I replied in horror. I was visibly sweating bullets at that point.

"Nice going, Ms. Warden. You've killed us all," said Yoko.

Mirai bumped into something as she tried to sit back on the bench and grip the wall. Hinageshi was still peacefully sleeping away. " _Zzzzzzz_... _Zzzzzzzz_ …"she softly snored.

"How are you still seriously sleeping?!" Mirai shouted.

"No more…no more…I can't take it anymore…" Kaori muttered. Then suddenly she began smacking the back of her head against the cold, hard prison cell wall. "I…need…meat! Give…me…meat!"

"I wanted this new experience to be interesting, but I didn't think there would a risk involved of becoming a meal for a cannibalistic serial killer," Mana said in a frightened tone.

"Is this truly what it means to be afraid?" Mireille asked. "If so, I don't like it!"

Fuyu, showing a bit of emotion for once, replied, "We're so dead."

Then suddenly, Kaori stopped smacking the back of her head against the wall. She went all quiet and then stood up on her feet. "…" she said nothing. For what felt like an eternity, she just stared at us with blood-shot eyes. And then she just snapped. "GIVE ME SOME MEAT! I'M FUCKING FAMISHED!" she shouted at us at the top of her lungs.

And then we all screamed all at once. " _Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!_ "

* * *

STORY PAUSE

(ELIZA'S VERSION)

* * *

(Eliza): Okay, I think that about does it on my end. I'll let you take over from here, Akechi-kun.

(Kogoro): Finally, that seemed like it went on for a whole week. Okay, now where was I? Oh right, me and the guys were in the middle of making our escape.

* * *

STORY PLAY

(KOGORO'S VERSION)

* * *

And one by one we filed out of the cell, Koro being the last one to exit. Damion took note of the staircase ahead of us. "To the stairs, they should get us out of here." Then we all started to make a break for the staircase. But before we could climb the stairs, I heard someone shout…well actually roar might've been a better fit for their volume.

"GIVE ME SOME MEAT! I'M FUCKING FAMISHED!" The booming voice was followed by a chorus of loud screams. " _Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!_ " I turned back to look behind me, and the others turned back as well. We waited a few moments before saying or doing anything, to see if another sound would carry.

Then when we were sure it was quiet again, Damion broke the silence. "Well that was loud," he said as he stuck one of his fingers in his right ear. "I think I went deaf for a second there." Then he turned back to face the stairs. "Well then, shall we gentlemen?"

"Wait, where do you think you're going?" I asked.

"I'm escaping. Haven't we established that's what we're doing already?" he replied in a condescending tone.

"There's someone else here, we can't just leave them," I said.

"No time, every man for himself," said Damion. "You don't want out for yourself, then go help whoever you want," he said curtly. "And anybody who agrees with me, follow me to freedom," he said before running up the staircase. A few of the others gave quick glances in the direction of the other voices before following after Damion. And before I knew it Taichi, Ginrou, Noriaki, Adam, and Victor were gone. All that remained were Yosuke, Lucius, Koro, and myself.

"You guys aren't going to make a run for it?" I asked.

"I didn't want to escape in the first place, but if I must then I'm going to be sure that everyone escapes as well," said Yosuke.

"It's against my code to leave anyone behind," said Lucius.

"And we're friends now Kogoro-chan, so I go wherever you go," said Koro.

I smiled. "Well whatever the reason, thanks. Now come on, the others must be behind that door back there." The three boys nodded and then we all ran to the old wooden door. I pulled on the rusty, metal door handle and the door swung open with a loud _creak_. In response to the noise, the voice I heard before called out again.

I heard a gasp. "Someone's here! Quick you've got to help us, I don't think we can hold her back much longer!" a girl shouted. Seeing that I was right, I entered the area behind the doorway in search of the other captives.

It was pretty much an exact replica of the previous room, down to the many holding cells and dimly lit torches. I check a nearby corner of the room and found yet another hidden security camera. 'They could see us exit the cell and yet no alarm went off, maybe there isn't anyone behind these cameras at all,' I thought to myself. Then me and the other guys continued to walk down the hallway until we found the source of the voice we heard a few moments earlier. And we were surprised to see that instead of just one girl being imprisoned here, there were nine in total. And from the looks of it, they were in the midst of a very hostile situation. Eight of them were cowering in a corner while another was doing her best to get to them. She growled menacingly while shaking her body relentlessly. If not for the fact that her one arm was tied tight into a strait jacket I would say she was trying to grab one of them. Luckily, three of the girls who were cowering in the corner had bags that they were using as makeshift shields to keep the girl in the strait jacket at bay.

I ran to the front of the cell and then grasped the bars tightly. "What's going on?! Who are you guys?!" I exclaimed.

"Akechi-kun!" I heard a familiar voice exclaim. I scanned the group of girls who were cowering in the corner and saw Eliza.

"Abbott-san! So you were here!" I exclaimed. The other boys came to the front of the cell to join me, and they saw how the girl in the strait jacket was about to attack them.

"What the hell is with her?! She looks as blood thirsty as a shark!" Lucius exclaimed.

"She's a cannibal, she's been holding back her hunger all this time but she just reached her tipping point!" Eliza shouted in explanation.

"A c-cannibal!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Don't just stand there you idiots, do something!" Eliza shouted.

"Stupid Goro! If I die because of this, I'll never forgive you!" one of the other girls shouted.

"Help us, Kogoro-kun!" another girl shouted.

"Okay hang on, let me think!" I shouted back. I desperately scanned the area for something I could use. Then I found medium-sized rock I could use to my advantage in a nearby corner. I banged the rock against the cell bars with all my might. "Hey! Over here! Fresh meat!" I shouted at the girl in the strait jacket.

The girl in the strait jacket saw us behind the bars, and in a flash she lunged at us like a tiger and grabbed the cell bars, hanging a few centimeters off the ground. Lucius, Yosuke, and I backed away from her, while Koro decided to get closer. I saw that in addition to the strait jacket she wore a muzzle that was too big to fit through the cell bars, but that didn't stop her from senselessly banging it against the bars, all while she was furiously snapping her jaws. She was dying to sink her teeth into our flesh.

"Hello my name's Koro, what's your name?" Koro asked the cannibal girl innocently.

He was met with a series of nonsensical growls and grunts.

Koro chuckled. "You're funny. I like you, do you want to be friends?"

"That guy is seriously messed up in the head!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Okay I lured her over to us!" I shouted at the other girls. "What now?!"

"I've got this!" a white haired-girl who wore a nice looking dress outfit shouted in reply. She stood up off the floor and readied herself.

"Opal, don't do anything stupid!" a girl with dark brown pigtails shouted.

"I warned her, Mirai! She tried to hurt you and me! She has to die!" the white-haired girl replied. Then she shouted, " _Hyaaaaaaaaa!_ " and lunged at the cannibal girl. The white-haired girl grabbed ahold of the cannibal girl's neck and then wrapped her legs around her torso. Then she began to squeeze her neck and torso tightly, so tight that the cannibal girl's face soon turned blue. Then the cannibal girl's growls and grunts grew softer and softer, her movements became sluggish, and then finally her grip on the bars weakened and she fell to the floor, which the white-haired girl still attached to her back. Though the fall didn't so much as faze the white-haired girl as she pulled herself out from under the cannibal girl in no time at all. Then she dusted off her clothes and cricked her neck.

The room became quiet as we all silently stared at the cannibal girl's body. "Is she…is she…?" Yosuke struggled getting out the words.

The white-haired girl shook her head and replied, "Not yet." Then she raised her foot over the cannibal girl's windpipe, getting ready to crush it.

"No! Stop!" Eliza exclaimed. "It's not her fault!"

"The hell it isn't! She tried to fucking eat us!" the white-haired girl replied.

"She can't help it, it's learned behavior! She's spent years acting like this because she thinks she can't survive otherwise! The doctors told me that when she's in this state, she's not in control of any of her actions!" Eliza argued.

"And yet you still chose to put us in here with this monster!" the white-haired girl shouted. "Mirai was right about you! After I'm finished with her, you're next!" She lowered her foot onto the cannibal girl's windpipe. But before she could finish the deed, the girl with dark brown pigtails stopped her.

"Opal, don't," she said.

The white-haired girl looked back at the girl with dark brown pigtails. "She tried to eat you, Mirai. I can't forgive her." Then she turned back to continue her work.

Then the girl with dark brown pigtails grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a hug. "Please, you don't have to kill anymore. I'm fine, you're fine. You stopped her. You don't have to do it."

"…" The white-haired girl remained silent for a few moments before sighing and taking her foot off the cannibal girl's windpipe. "Fine, she lives…for now." I took advantage of the moment to try and free the girls, only to be met with the sight of another rusty, ancient-looking lock.

"Of course. Hey Lucius, do you think you can handle another one?" I asked.

"Sorry, I broke my only paperclip picking the last one," Lucius replied.

"Wouldn't do you any good any way, someone sabotaged that lock. Even if you had the key it wouldn't open," a girl who wore a bunny-eared deerstalker hat explained.

"Then our only option is to break it off," Lucius replied. He eyed the rock that I used to distract the cannibal girl. "That rock doesn't look sturdy enough for the job. If only we had a hammer or something."

"How about a pair of bolt cutters?" a girl who wore a big, puffy turtleneck sweater asked.

"That would be ideal, but I doubt there's anything like that around here," Lucius replied.

The girl reached into her messenger bag and then pulled out a gadget. "I have one on my multi-tool you can use." She pulled up the bolt cutter section of her multi-tool and then handed it to Lucius.

He accepted it while sweatdropping. "Umm, thanks."

"If you had that the whole time then why didn't you tell me?! We've been trapped in here for hours!" the girl who wore the bunny-eared deerstalker hat shouted.

The girl who wore the big, puffy sweater just smiled and cocked her head. "You didn't ask."

"…" We all went silent. Koro was the only one who seemed amused as he chuckled hysterically.

"What?" the girl who wore the big, puffy sweater innocently asked.

"Opal, her you can kill," said the girl with the dark brown pigtails.

"I want to so bad," said the white-haired girl.

"Where did you even get that?" Eliza asked.

"I had it on me when I was arrested," the girl who wore the big, puffy sweater replied.

"I kind of hate you right now," said a girl who wore an artist's baret.

"So do I, that was not amusing at all," said a girl who wore a flashy mask.

"Sorry, but at least you have it now," the girl who wore the big, puffy sweater replied.

"Yeah, at least we can get out of here now," said a girl who wore a lot of makeup.

Then all of a sudden we heard the sound of a yawn. A girl, who I had not even noticed until now suddenly awoke from a nap she was taking on one of the benches on the far end of the cell. "You know, you're right Eliza-chan. Once you get a good sleeping position those benches are actually pretty comfy."

"Wow, I completely forgot you were even there. You have no staying power at all," said the girl with the dark brown pigtails in a rude manner.

"Sorry, did I forget to mention that I have narcolepsy? Sometimes I just can't help myself from falling asleep," the drowsy girl innocently replied.

"No staying power, and you fall asleep at random times? Jeez, you are one boring criminal," the girl with the dark brown pigtails continued her taunting rant.

"…" The drowsy girl frowned.

"What I don't get is why Kaori-chan didn't go after Hinageshi-chan instead? She was completely defenseless the whole time," the girl with a lot of makeup on replied.

"Looks like even blood-thirsty cannibals can't sense people who blend into the background," the girl with dark brown pigtails teased.

"Mirai, that's enough for one day," said the white-haired girl.

"What? I'm just saying what we're all thinking," the girl with dark brown pigtails replied. I kind of hate to admit it, but even I didn't notice she was there until she woke up. Ten. There were ten girls.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're not hurt Otsuka-chan," said Eliza.

The drowsy girl smiled. "Thank you for your concern."

Meanwhile, Lucius was working on cutting the lock of the cell door. He seemed to be struggling a bit, but not nearly as bad as when he was using a paperclip to pick it. He groaned. "Sorry it's taking so long, I'm good at making tools, not using them." He wasn't kidding though, in the short time that he had the multi-tool he had flipped through every single one of the tools. "I just can't seem to find the bolt cutters." He had overlooked the fact that the girl with the big, puffy sweater had already brought up the bolt cutter tool before handing over the multi-tool. After a few more moments, Yosuke couldn't take the awkwardness anymore.

"Oh for Pete's sake! Give me that!" Yosuke exclaimed as he snatched the multi-tool and used the bolt cutters to quickly cut off the lock.

"Oh, it was that one? I thought those were wire cutters. Well, I could've done that," he replied, trying to spare himself some shame.

"I'm sure you could have," Yosuke replied in a sarcastic tone as he opened the cell door for the girls to escape. Guess the rumors about Lucius were true, he really did have a bad handle of weapons and tools. The girls immediately filed out of the prison cell, and the girl who had a lot of makeup on ran over to me and pulled me into a vice-like hug.

"Kogoro-kun! It's so good to see you again!" she exclaimed.

I was surprised at her reaction at first, but then I realized that I did indeed know this girl. Airi Shimizu, the one I tried to save. "Airi?"

She pulled away from me and smiled in delight. "You do remember. Thank goodness." Then she puffed up her cheeks. "Now explain, why did you never respond to any of my letters?"

"Well…I…uh…I," I honestly didn't know how to respond. Truth be told, I never expected to see her again. The last time I met with her, I was a total jerk. I remember even calling her stupid five times in the same sentence. And I remember her crying her eyes out after I was done. I knew immediately that I had treated her badly but I was too much of a coward to face her again. After a while she started writing letters to me, and I didn't know what to do. So I ended up just ignoring them. I don't think I ever got around to reading a single one. I know, I'm a horrible person, aren't I? But like I said before, I'm not good around other people. I never have been, and I never will be.

"You know this girl, Kogoro?" Lucius asked

"Sort of," I replied.

That made Airi even more upset. "Sort of? What kind of reply is that? You saved my life, I'm eternally grateful!"

I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment. "If I really saved your life, you wouldn't have wound up in prison."

Airi shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong, I made the mistake of not trusting you completely. And now I'm paying the price for it."

I sighed. "I'm really sorry for how I left things between us. I was a total jerk."

Airi giggled. "Yeah, you kind of were. But I think I needed a jerk like you to make me come to my senses. I'm turning over a new leaf, when I get out of prison I'm going to follow my dreams and do what I want to do. I'm not going to live my life for anyone else."

I smiled. "That's good to hear. I'll be rooting for you."

"Wait, back up for a second? How did you save her life?" Lucius asked.

"We met through my line of work, and I helped her out of a jam," I said, trying to be as intentionally vague as possible.

"Why are you being so vague?" Lucius replied. Crap, guess my vagueness was too noticeable.

"You don't know?" Airi suddenly asked. "Kogoro-kun is a de… _kyaaaaa!_ " She was cut off when she suddenly yelped. She looked behind her and saw the girl who wore the bunny-eared deerstalker hat. "How many more times are you going to do that, Yoko-chan?"

"Till your ass stops looking appealing. If you want to blame anyone, blame your body. I wouldn't grab you if there wasn't anything to grab," the girl who wore the bunny-eared deerstalker hat replied.

"I see you haven't changed either, bun-bun," I replied.

"Neither have you, Goro. I must say, I didn't expect for us to meet again under these circumstances," she replied. Yoko Ketsukari, one of my former colleagues in the detective game. She was actually pretty good, at least she was until she started helping the criminals she was supposed to be catching. Her fashion sense was as ridiculous as always.

"Don't tell me you're up to your old tricks again. Since we got here things have been really fishy, someone's clearly playing a game with us. And I know how much you love to play the role of a criminal mastermind."

"You suspect moi of this elaborate setup? Perish the thought, you know for a fact that I'm much craftier than this. No, my keen detective instincts tell me this is the work of a third party, a third party with great power and resources. Enough to take over an entire prison and drug and kidnap all of us," Yoko replied. "But of course, that's just a theory, a Yoko theory bun-bun."

"You know this little rabbit too I assume?" Yosuke asked.

"It's a long story," I replied.

"Nice to meet you, any friend of Kogoro-chan's is a friend of mine," Koro stretched his right hand out, motioning for Yoko to take it. She of course did not. Then he extended the same curtesy to Airi. She of course did. "Let's all be the best of friends from here on out." Then he unclenched his left hand and showed off his pet pigeon corpse. "Kiwi wants to be friends with you too."

Airi screamed at the horrid sight of Koro's pet, and the rest of the girls showed their shock as well. However, Yoko seemed curious about Koro's connection to the pigeon corpse. "You do realize that bird is dead, right?"

"Dead? Oh no Kiwi's not dead, he's just shy around new people. Kiwi don't be rude, say hi to our new friends," Koro replied.

"…" Kiwi of course did not respond.

Koro chuckled. "Oh Kiwi, you're too funny. For a pigeon you're quite the charmer."

"What did Kiwi say to you this time, Kiriko-kun?" Eliza asked out of concern.

"He said he's flappy to tweet coo, and hopes that coo dove him as much as he doves all of coo," Koro replied.

I could see in the back that the girl with dark brown pigtails, named Mirai Reveuse, nudged the white-haired girl next to her, Opal Kaido, and made the cuckoo-bird motion while pointing at Koro. Opal covered her mouth with her hand to soften a snicker.

"Kiriko-kun, I know that Kiwi is your best friend and all, but remember you told me that when you came here you would try and get out of your shell a bit more?" Eliza asked.

Koro smiled. "Yes, I remember that Eliza-chan but Kiwi didn't like that idea. He was even talking about pecking your eyes out if you tried to keep us apart." Koro gently stroked Kiwi's decaying skull. "It's okay Kiwi, you don't have to get so upset. Eliza-chan's nice, remember? She promised that if we came here we would get lots and lots of friends. And she was right."

"Interesting, it's like he really doesn't know that bird is dead," said the girl who wore the big, puffy sweater named Mana Aiso. "He's a really good actor."

"Are you sure he's just faking? It sounds real to me," said the girl who wore the artist baret, whose name was Fuyu Tachibana.

"I think it's kind of cute…in a creepy and gory sort of way," said the drowsy girl, whose name was Hinageshi Otsuka.

"He's been like this all day, every word that comes out of the guy's mouth is pure nonsense," Yosuke replied. Then he noticed Eliza. "You're that girl who asked if I wanted to come here, right? Can I assume you asked him to come too?"

"Ms. Warden here asked us all to come here," Yoko clarified. "Technically speaking she should be the one in charge of the prison. And yet we were all captured by an unknown third party. Something strange is afoot here at Icarus and I shall find out just what that is."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, bun-bun. What we should do right now is go meet up with the others, as soon as Lucius picked the lock to our cell they headed up to the floor above. They're trying to escape right now, so I say we go ahead and escape as well," I replied.

"Hang on, Akechi-kun. I agree that there is something strange going on here, but you're forgetting that this is still a prison. Inmates can't just try to escape, there should be countermeasures in place to prevent such a thing from happening," Eliza explained.

"Alright then, you lead the way Abbott-san. You should know better than anyone how to avoid those countermeasures," I replied.

Eliza nodded. "I vow to find out what's going on here and put an end to it. When that's over, this place can go back to the way it's supposed to be. Trust me things will be better from here on out."

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Mirai.

"I say we give the girl a chance to prove herself," said the girl who wore the mask, whose name was Mireille DuMonte.

"Wait a second," said Lucius. "What do we do about her?" He asked as he pointed to the cannibal girl, named Kaori Takenaka.

I sighed before heading inside the prison cell and collecting Kaori's unconscious body. "Lucius, give me a hand with her will you?" He nodded and came over to assist me. We picked up Kaori's unconscious body and slung her over both of our shoulders. "Alright, we're all ready to go."

Eliza nodded. "Follow me, and don't fall behind. This place can be a maze if you don't know your way around."

We did as we were told and then the fourteen of us, an unconscious Kaori included, escaped from the dungeon-like holding cells. Little did I know what was waiting for us up above.

* * *

Upon reentering the original Icarus building, an overhead announcement played for us on the prison PA system. It sounded like the classical bell that would play at an academy to dismiss classes. Then a voice came onto the PA system. It was an odd voice, it sounded whimsical and child-like, yet something about it set me on edge. And the message that came from the owner of that voice pushed me completely off of it.

" _It appears that we have some more escapees on the first floor. What's the matter? You can't handle it on the inside? Well if you want to leave that bad, no one's stopping you. In fact, go ahead make a run for it. See if I care. It's not going to make a difference. There is no escape. You will be stuck in this prison for the rest of your natural lives. Have a nice day_." Then the PA system went offline and we were left wondering what the announcer's message was all about.

"I-Ignore it, let's just make a break for it," said Eliza. "Once we get outside we'll figure out what to do next."

"…" But the others had appeared to have lost their nerve.

"Trust me, everything will be alright," she reassured us. Although she didn't look to sure of that herself. "Come on, follow me. The fastest way to the outside from here is going through the main entrance. It's just beyond the lobby over this way." She ran on ahead of us, and we all begrudgingly followed her.

Then when we got to the lobby we were greeted with another surprise. The six guys that had left before us, Damion, Ginrou, Taichi, Adam, Noriaki, and Victor were all sitting in the lobby. Their faces were what shocked me at first. All of them looked unbelievably scared. Even Damion, the suave kingpin, seemed to be fazed. "You guys haven't left yet?" I asked them.

"…" None of them said a word.

"Come on, what are you all so down in the dumps for? The exit is right beyond that door," said Eliza.

Noriaki shook his head. "There is no exit."

"What? What are you talking about?" I replied.

"We're completely stranded," Victor added.

"See for yourselves," said Damion as he pointed his cane in the direction of the lobby's double doors. We knew it wasn't a good idea to look at what lie ahead. But we couldn't resist, because we still thought that the world we lived in made sense. But we were wrong, we were very wrong. We exited through the double doors and were shocked to see the what lie before us. Or more accurately what didn't lie before us. It was gone, the bridge was completely gone. Almost like it was never there in the first place. Even though I was sure that I had been driven across it just this morning. All that remained of it was a slab of concrete that jutted off the edge of the island. It was true there was no escape. We were stranded. We were completely stranded in international waters.

The other boys soon came and joined us. "We told you, chums. There's no escape," said Adam.

"You, blonde girl!" Damion exclaimed as he pointed his cane at Eliza. "Your family designed this place, right?! There's got to be another exit! Where is it?!"

"I…I…" Eliza was flabbergasted.

"Answer the demon! Where is the road to salvation?!" Ginrou exclaimed. "Surely you would not build Heaven without a path back to Earth."

"There is no other exit. There's one road that goes to and from the prison," said Eliza. Her knees buckled beneath her weight and she fell to the ground in despair. "It took us years to build a bridge all the way to this island. And now it's just gone. How? How can this be happening?"

"Then that's it?! There's really no way to escape?!" Mirai exclaimed.

"You've got to be joking!" Opal exclaimed.

"It would appear that our third party has prevented us from using our escape route. They obviously want to keep us here, but for what purpose?" Yoko asked herself.

"Oh I can answer that." And then we heard it again, the cute, whimsical voice that makes your hairs stand up every time you hear it. A voice that we would soon associate it with one individual. We turned around to see where exactly the voice came from and were surprised to see a walking talking teddy bear dressed up in a prison guard's uniform. "You're stuck here because you're being punished. After all, each and every one of you has committed a very naughty crime. Damion-kun, you've been selling illegal goods and killing anyone who stands in the way of your business for years, Fuyu-chan you forged false documents that shut down major corporations and made thousands of people lose their jobs, Noriaki-kun tried to bring about a civil uprising that would have caused God knows how many hundreds of thousands of people to die, and Yoko-chan helped criminals and psychopaths alike carry out abductions, robberies, and murders. And each and every one of you is no different. You've all done something that deserves the harshest punishment imaginable. Especially you, Eliza-chan."

"Me?" Eliza replied.

"You've committed what I believe to be the greatest crime of all. Hope. For years you've had your hopes up about this place. This was going to be your legacy to the world. A prison where the goal is 100% rehabilitation. Any criminal who gets sentenced here becomes pure once again. That is what you hoped for. Your hope and faith in criminals and scum, it makes me sick. How anyone can place such blind trust into horrible menaces of society is beyond me. I mean look at your first round of inmates for crying out loud. They're all horrible lying, cheating, psychotic, sociopathic, murdering monsters. And your bodyguard is no better."

"What?" I replied.

"Anyway, you all might as well direct your complaints to Eliza-chan, because thanks to that annoying hope that she's put into her "ideal prison", I've got to smash that hope into a million fucking smithereens. So as punishment for the crime of hope I sentence you, Eliza-chan, and your flunkies to life in prison. No possibility of parole!" The teddy bear exclaimed in an uproar of laughter.

Then he stopped laughing. "But it's not like there isn't some way you can get your sentence revoked and truly escape from prison."

"There's a way we can get out of here? Seriously? Tell us, what is it?" Lucius asked.

"Well since your crimes are linked to that of hope, I think the only clear way to accomplish that goal is to commit an equal act of despair. Despair so chilling, and heartless that your soul will never feel clean again. Your rehabilitation is murder. If you want to escape, all you need to do is kill one of your fellow inmates. Simple enough, right? Do that, and as far as I'm concerned your rehabilitation is complete. It's a game I like to call, the Death Row of Mutual Killing." He cackled madly again, and then once he calmed down he continued. "My name is Monokuma, and I am your new prison warden. If you want out you must play the game, so do I have any willing participants?"

* * *

A/N: Let the Death Row of Mutual Killing begin at last! Who will give into despair and commit the evil deed of murder in exchange for freedom? Especially when known killers are involved in the game? One thing is for sure, this is going to get really interesting.


	9. Opening Theme

A/M: Hello once again. As you can see this post is titled Opening, meaning this is meant to serve as the opening for the game i.e. the Danganronpa theme song! Now of course since there aren't any real words to the song it would be pointless putting it up here so I will just ask all of you to insert the theme song's music while you're reading over the intro and to pretend that the intro is for an actual game.

This isn't really necessary but something I just like to do to make it feel like an actual game. I did this for my other Danganronpa fanfic as well. Now concerning the story, itself. I saw that some of you felt like I rushed the ending of the prologue, well to be completely truthful I kind of did. I was writing at school and when I finally got to the point where the students were above ground again it was already past 7:00 and I wanted to go home and eat dinner, but I didn't want to leave until I finished Friday's update so I had to axe the ending. But trust me, I'm making up for it with Chapter 1's opening part. It'll pick up right where we left off and you'll get to watch Monokuma humiliate and belittle the inmates with mental and physical pain. And of course the inmates are going to retaliate because like any of them will listen to a talking teddy bear. I'm also going to have him explain every aspect of the game completely at the beginning, save for some class trial details. Since I'm writing this story on gifted criminals and not gifted students, things are going to be a bit different than the way the mutual killing games are usually played.

I also ask that going forward in the future, please forgive me in advance if I miss a scheduled update. I'm a college student and I have a lot on my plate to deal with. Sometimes when I get home from school I just don't feel like writing. Also _Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony_ officially came out in North America last Tuesday so I might be using my free time to play that. I made my way to Chapter 4 today, and it's been really good so far. To those of you haven't played it yet, I suggest you splurge and buy a copy because I have to say that it's the best game of the series yet and worth every penny. But anyway I will try to stay on schedule for the most part. Anyways, without further ado please enjoy the opening intro.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Danganronpa theme song.

* * *

(Insert Danganronpa theme song)

* * *

Based on the game franchise developed and produced by Spike Chunsoft and Team Danganronpa. With art based on that of Rui Komatsuzaki, and writing built upon that of Kazutaka Kodaka. Produced with illustrations and collaborations by Shyjoker. Maestro Infinite proudly presents…

* * *

 _ **Danganronpa: Exoneration or Condemnation?**_

* * *

(Metal chains wrap tightly around the title sequence, signifying the imprisoned feeling of the game. At the heart of the chains is a large lock with a large keyhole. Bright pink blood splashes onto the screen, and a projectile soon flies out of it. As the projectile flies through the air the blood comes off of it, revealing the projectile to be a bullet. The bullet flies through the air and lodges itself in the keyhole. The camera follows it through the dark keyhole and then emerges out the other side on a new scene. The camera captures the bullet flying through a collage of photos on a bulletin board. The photos are connected by blood red strings. The camera zooms out and the collage of photos becomes more clear. The photos are all of Kogoro Akechi, solving various cases and looking solemn and dreary in each one. The collage itself is also a large fully body picture of him. And upon zooming out the camera also reveals that the red strings when woven together spell out the words: _**Starring - Kogoro Akechi**_. And underneath that: _**EVA – Bryce Papenbrook/JVA –**_ _ **緑川 光**_ _ **(Hikaru Midorikawa)**_.)

(The bullet then flies through the left eye of a white rabbit. The camera widens to reveal that the rabbit is one of many that are part of a room's unique wallpaper design of girly white rabbits. Yoko Ketsukari is lying down peacefully on her back in the middle of the room. She seems deeply distraught. A magnifying glass lays at her feet, the camera zooms in on it and the magnifying glass magnifies a part of the floor that is inscribed with writing. It reads: _**Yoko Ketsukari**_. And underneath that: _**EVA – Wendee Lee/JVA –** **沢城 みゆき**_ _ **(Miyuki Sawashiro)**_.)

(The bullet continues to fly through the air, and barely misses Damion Stavros who dodges it gracefully without leaving his seated position on a large golden throne. The bullet is deflected off the side of the throne and flies away. Damion's throne solidifies his role as the Ultimate Black Market King, and the large volumes of money at his feet symbolize his success. He has a garish, yet somewhat serious look in his eyes as he sips out of a glass of wine in his right hand. The camera zooms out and takes note of the wine bottle on the left side of Damion's throne. It zooms in on the label and we're able to see that it reads the words: _**Damion Stavros**_. And under that: _**EVA – Steve Blume/JVA**_ _ **–**_ _ **石田 彰**_ _ **(Akira Ishida)**_.)

(The bullet, deflected by Damion's throne, continues to fly through the air at an angle. A full moon is up in the sky in the next scene. The bullet's shadow is reflected against the moon's bright glow, as well as the shadow of a person standing atop a large tower and basking in the moonlight. The person is revealed to be Mireille DuMonte, who stands at the very edge of the building and then gracefully takes off her top hat and takes a bow. The bullet narrowly misses her head. Mireille simply smirks at her feats. The shadows of the night reflect on the moon's surface and words appear out of the darkness, almost as if they're etched onto the moon. They read: _**Mireille DuMonte/Arsene Lupin VII**_. And under that: _**EVA – Stephanie Sheh/JVA**_ _ **–**_ _ **茅野 愛衣**_ _ **(Ai Kayano)**_.)

(The bullet flies over the head of Mirai Reveuse, who's too busy messing with a computer to notice. She appears to be using a terminal and working with the Python programming language. A message is printed to the screen: _"You can't stop the future, LOL :)_ _._ _凸_ _(-0-_ _メ_ _)"_ . Then another message is printed to the screen that reads: _**Mirai Reveuse**_. And under that: _**EVA – Sarah Wiedenheft/JVA –**_ _ **西 明日香**_ _ **(Asuka Nishi)**_. The bullet is then stopped in midair by Opal Kaido, who fires a bullet of her own from a silenced pistol. Opal's bullet knocks back the bullet flying at her, and makes it fall to the ground, finally stopping in its tracks. The bullet lands on the ground in front of Opal and she drops one of her signature white roses to the ground as well. Signifying that her mission is complete. The camera zooms in on the back of the bullet and reveals that there is a message engraved in the metal that reads: _**Opal Kaido**_. And under that: _**EVA – Veronica Taylor/JVA –**_ _ **緒方 恵美**_ _ **(Megumi Ogata)**_.)

(Meanwhile, Opal's bullet continues to fly through the air and eventually it goes through a hole in a large spider web made of what appears to be red thread. Koro Kiriko is laying back inside the thread spider web and he looks as happy can be. His pet pigeon corpse, Kiwi, is lying on his chest and he has two very sharp looking sewing needles in his hands. Koro then pricks himself with his sewing needles and bright pink blood trickles down the thread spider web. The blood highlights a message hidden in the thread spider web. The message reads: _**Koro Kiriko**_. And under that: _**EVA – Max Mittelman/JVA –** **梶 裕貴**_ _ **(Yuki Kaji)**_.)

(The blood continues to trickle down the thread spider web until it falls down below and lands in an ink jar, turning the ink to the color of the blood. A calligraphy brush pen is dipped in the bloody ink and then begins to write out a message on a thick piece of parchment. The message reads: _**Fuyu Tachibana**_. And under that: _**EVA – Bex Taylor-Klaus/JVA –**_ _ **坂本 真綾**_ _ **(Maaya Sakamoto)**_. It's no surprise that the artist behind the calligraphy is the master forger herself, Fuyu Tachibana. She has a strange mix of pride and angst in her face as she stares at her latest work.)

(Meanwhile, the bullet Opal fired continues to fly through the air and looks like it's about to hit Victor Blood, who is standing alone in a dimly lit room. But just as the bullet is within mere centimeters of hitting him, he pulls out a knife that was hidden inside of his dress jacket and simply deflects the bullet with the knife's blade, without so much as even blinking. He has a stern expression and a glare that could kill on his face. And engraved on the knife's blade is a message that reads: _**Victor Blood**_. And under that: _**EVA – Crispin Freeman/JVA –**_ _ **小野 大輔**_ _ **(Daisuke Ono)**_. The bullet is then sent flying in the other direction. And it looks like Victor's swift deflect added some momentum to it.)

(The bullet flies through a ring of fire that's been created by Adam Wick's flamethrower. Adam is wearing his goggles over his eyes and has a huge grin on his face as he continues to burn the environment around him. However, he is so immersed in the flames that he doesn't notice the bullet flying towards him. When he finally hears the bullet's _whir_ against the wind, he jumps out of the way of the bullet's path and narrowly misses being shot. The bullet flies through the other side of Adam's ring of fire and makes an odd message appear out of the flames. It reads: _**Adam Wick**_. And under that: _**EVA – Travis Willingham**_ _/_ _ **JVA –**_ _ **桐井 大介**_ _ **(Daisuke Kirii)**_.)

(The bullet then flies past a murder crime scene complete with chalk lines and crime scene tape. Yosuke Kojima is standing nearby, looking lost and alone like usual. As always he is wondering how he can atone for his sins. The camera zooms in on a message written on one of the pieces of crime scene tape. It reads: _**Yosuke Kojima**_. And under that: _**EVA – Troy Baker/JVA –**_ _ **関 智一**_ _ **(Tomokazu Seki)**_.)

(The bullet then files through the bars of Kaori Takenaka's prison cell and then flies out on the other side. Along with Kaori's strait jacket and muzzle, she is now wearing chains that are wrapped around her ankles and torso. She's sitting down on the floor while wearing a ravenous look on her face. She snaps her jaws at the camera. Clearly it's feeding time. The shadows of the prison cell form a message on the stone floor. The message reads: _**Kaori Takenaka**_. And under that: _**EVA – Karen Strassman/JVA –**_ _ **喜多村英梨**_ _ **(Eri Kitamura)**_. Then Kaori's shadow is shown, and it becomes increasingly more monstrous and frightening as the moments pass.)

(The bullet then flies towards Lucius Morita's direction. Lucius is surrounded by a ring of weapons and tools, and has two twin pistols gripped tightly in his hands. He sees the bullet flying toward him and attempts to deflect it with another bullet much like Opal did before him. However, as he fires the two pistols the kickback is too much for him and he sent flying and lands hard on his back. He briefly forgot that he couldn't use the weapons, no matter how much he wanted to. But remarkably one of the bullets Lucius fires does indeed hit its mark and replaces Opal's bullet by continuing to fly thought the air. Lucius folds the pistols over his chest, forming an X, before passing out from the mental exhaustion of his ordeal. Engraved on the pistol in his right hand is a message that reads: _**Lucius Morita**_. And then engraved on the pistol in his left hand is another message that reads: _**EVA – Johnny Yong Bosch/JVA –**_ _ **浪川 大輔**_ _ **(Daisuke Namikawa)**_.)

(Lucius' bullet then flies over a couch where Hinageshi Otsuka is snoozing away. Apparently her narcolepsy got the best of her again. There is an archeology book open on her chest. She must have been reading from it before passing out. The books pages are open to show epigraphs with mysterious symbols on them, but oddly enough amongst the strange symbols lies a hidden message that reads: _**Hinageshi Otsuka**_. And under that: _**EVA – Xanthe Huynh/JVA –**_ _ **戸松 遥**_ _ **(Haruka Tomatsu)**_.)

(The bullet then flies past a large wooden crucifix, from which Ginrou Kubikiri is hanging. He's not dead, but he appears to be remaining completely still as he stares out over the horizon. Perhaps he's using the act of crucifixion to punish himself and cleanse his sins in the same manner that Jesus Christ died for the people's sins. A crazy religious zealot as always. A message is engraved in the wood of the crucifix. The message reads: _**Ginrou Kubikiri**_. And under that: _**EVA – Neil Kaplan/JVA –**_ _ **子安 武人**_ _ **(Takehito Koyasu)**_.)

(The bullet then flies past Noriaki Kita, who's messing around will his cellphone. He appears to be posting text messages to his followers under the screen name "Tenshi", who's avatar is represented as a large, red heart with the letter T engraved in it. It also has a halo and angel wings. Then suddenly several shadowy figures appear behind Noriaki. They all have the letter T engraved on their faces. Noriaki smiles innocently. It's fun to play God. One of his followers holds up sign that reads: _**Noriaki Kita**_. And another one holds up a sign that reads: _**EVA – Dallas Reid/JVA –**_ _ **岡本 信彦**_ _ **(Nobuhiko Okamoto)**_. Several other followers hold up signs that say generic follower slogans. And soon a mob is crowding Noriaki. His smile grows and he hold up his cellphone in the air while flashing a peace sign with his free hand.)

(The bullet flies past a dark alley from which Airi Shimizu emerges. She appears deeply distraught. There is graffiti on a nearby wall that reads: _**Airi Shimizu**_. And under that: _**EVA – Laura Bailey/JVA –**_ _ **花澤 香菜**_ _ **(Kana Hanazawa)**_. On her way out of the alley, Airi steps into a small rain puddle. The water in the puddle distorts from Airi's step and form rings, and when the water finally calms down again, a person's reflection can be made out in the puddle.)

(The person in question is Taichi Inai. Upon seeing his reflection in the puddle, he steps in it as well, distorting the water in the puddle once again. Water splashes out of the puddle and forms a message in the cracks of the ground. The message reads: _**Taichi Inai**_. And under that: _**EVA**_ _ **–**_ _ **Darrel Guilbeau/JVA**_ _ **–**_ _ **豊永利行 (Toshiyuki Toyonaga)**_ ).

(The bullet then flies past Mana Aiso, who is standing by herself in a completely ordinary room with her messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She sees the camera and simply smiles and waves at it, keeping up with her care-free persona. What secrets is she hiding behind that fake face of hers? Or is this really just how she acts? Mana raises her messenger bag's tags up to the camera and reveals that there are messages written on them. One tag reads: _**Mana Aiso.**_ And another reads: _**EVA – Dorothy Elias-Fahn/JVA – 小松 未可子 (Mikako Komatsu)**_.)

(The bullet finally stops when it hits a mirror that Eliza Abbott is looking into. There are just a few small cracks at first, but after a few moments the cracks grow until the entire mirror is in shambles. Eliza's reflection is now distorted symbolizing her distorted mind and her shattered dreams. The cracks form a message that reads: _**Eliza Abbott**_. And under that: _**EVA – Erika Harlacher/JVA – 日笠 陽子 (Yoko Hikasa)**_.)

(The scene changes to show Monokuma laughing his head off as an electronic roulette wheel, featuring the inmate's faces, spins in an entertaining manner much like it was a casino game. It ends up landing on his face and he wins the grand prize as thousands of gold coins pour out from the roulette wheel's slot. Lights flash overhead and an electronic message plays over a marque board. It reads: _**And Monokuma as the Warden**_. And under that: _**EVA – Brian Beacock/JVA – たらこ(Tarako)**_ ).

(Several messages flash onto the screen. They read:

 **FREEDOM IS ONLY AN ILLUSION.**

 **THERE IS NO HOPE.**

 **TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL, THAT IS THE QUESTION.**

 **WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE?**

 **ARE YOU READY TO PLAY THIS UNFORGIVING GAME OF TRUTHS AND LIES?**

 **THE REWARD IS FREEDOM, THE PRICE IS YOUR LIFE.**

 **WHAT WILL YOU DO?**

All the students stare at these words in shocked horror. The camera zooms in on each of their reactions. There is not one shred of hope amongst them. Welcome to Icar…no, welcome to Pandora's Academy for Horrible and Gifted Juvenile Delinquents. Here's hoping you have a pleasant life or death sentence.)

* * *

(Danganronpa theme song end)

* * *

 **PROLOGUE: FOR THE CRIME OF HOPE, I SENTENCE YOU TO LIFE IN PRISON**

 **END**

* * *

 **INMATES REMAINING: 20**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this, and look forward to the official start of Chapter 1.


	10. Chapter 1, Part 1

A/N: And now the moment you've all been waiting for. Time for Chapter 1 to officially begin. Hope you enjoy what I have so far.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

 **Chapter 1, Part 1: The Death Row of Mutual Killing**

* * *

It was gone, the bridge was completely gone. Almost like it was never there in the first place. Even though I was sure that I had been driven across it just this morning. All that remained of it was a slab of concrete that jutted off the edge of the island. It was really true, there was no escape. We were stranded. We were completely stranded in international waters.

The other boys soon came and joined us. "We told you, chums. There's no escape," said Adam.

"You, blonde girl!" Damion exclaimed as he pointed his cane at Eliza. "Your family designed this place, right?! There's got to be another exit! Where is it?!"

"I…I…" Eliza was flabbergasted.

"Answer the demon! Where is the road to salvation?!" Ginrou exclaimed. "Surely you would not build Heaven without a path back to Earth."

"There is no other exit. There's one road that goes to and from the prison," said Eliza. Her knees buckled beneath her weight and she fell to the ground in despair. "It took us years to build a bridge all the way to this island. And now it's just gone. How? How can this be happening?"

"Then that's it?! There's really no way to escape?!" Mirai exclaimed.

"You've got to be joking!" Opal exclaimed.

"It would appear that our third party has prevented us from using our escape route. They obviously want to keep us here, but for what purpose?" Yoko asked herself.

"Oh I can answer that." And then we heard it again, the cute, whimsical voice that makes your hairs stand up every time you hear it. A voice that we would soon associate with one individual. We turned around to see where exactly the voice came from and were surprised to see a walking, talking teddy bear dressed up in a prison guard's uniform. "You're stuck here because you're being punished. After all, each and every one of you has committed a very naughty crime. Damion-kun, you've been selling illegal goods and killing anyone who stands in the way of your business for years, Fuyu-chan you forged false documents that shut down major corporations and made thousands of people lose their jobs, Noriaki-kun tried to bring about a civil uprising that would have caused God knows how many hundreds of thousands of people to die, and Yoko-chan helped criminals and psychopaths alike carry out abductions, robberies, and murders. And each and every one of you is no different. You've all done something that deserves the harshest punishment imaginable. Especially you, Eliza-chan."

"Me?" Eliza replied.

"You've committed what I believe to be the greatest crime of all. Hope. For years you've had your hopes up about this place. This was going to be your legacy to the world. A prison where the goal is 100% rehabilitation. Any criminal who gets sentenced here becomes pure once again. That is what you hoped for. Your hope and faith in criminals and scum, it makes me sick. How anyone can place such blind trust into horrible menaces of society is beyond me. I mean look at your first round of inmates for crying out loud. They're all horrible lying, cheating, psychotic, sociopathic, murdering monsters. And your bodyguard is no better."

"What?" I replied.

"Anyway, you all might as well direct your complaints to Eliza-chan, because thanks to that annoying hope that she's put into her "ideal prison", I've got to smash that hope into a million fucking smithereens. So as punishment for the crime of hope I sentence you, Eliza-chan, and your flunkies to life in prison. No possibility of parole!" The teddy bear exclaimed in an uproar of laughter.

Then he stopped laughing. "But it's not like there isn't some way you can get your sentence revoked and truly escape from prison."

"There's a way we can get out of here? Seriously? Tell us, what is it?" Lucius asked.

"Well since your crimes are linked to that of hope, I think the only clear way to accomplish that goal is to commit an equal act of despair. Despair so chilling, and heartless that your soul will never feel clean again. Your rehabilitation is murder. If you want to escape, all you need to do is kill one of your fellow inmates. Simple enough, right? Do that, and as far as I'm concerned your rehabilitation is complete. It's a game I like to call, the Death Row of Mutual Killing." He cackled madly again, and then once he calmed down he continued. "My name is Monokuma, and I am your new Prison Warden. If you want out you must play the game, so do I have any willing participants?"

"…" none of us really knew what to say in reply. The initial shock of seeing a walking, talking teddy bear had still not sunk in. So we tried desperately to piece together one shred of sanity in this insane situation we found ourselves in. This Monokuma, was an odd creature indeed. It was half white and half black in color. Its right half being white, and its left half being black. Its white half seemed like the face a typical stuffed animal might have, but its left half was far from normal. A small smile twisted into a malicious grin, and instead of a small black eye to match its right half it had this wicked-looking, scar-shaped, red eye. The red eye had an ominous glow about it. It wore a small prison guard uniform, complete with black pants, a blue pocketed shirt with a nametag stitched on its right side, a black utility belt with a silver belt buckle, a portable radio which hung on his left shoulder, and a blue security guard cap which had holes for its ears to fit through.

"W-Wh-What are you?" Airi asked in a scared tone.

Monokuma cocked his head to the side and replied, "Eh? Didn't I already answer that? I'm Monokuma, your new Prison Warden."

"Mono…kuma?" Noriaki replied in a confused tone.

"Yes, Monokuma. That's my name," Monokuma replied.

"Are you…a teddy bear?" Fuyu asked.

"A teddy bear? No, I'm Monokuma. Aren't you listening?" Monokuma replied.

"Kuma, as in bear. It's got a cutesy look to it and you can see the seams where someone stitched it together," said Opal. She sweatdropped. "No matter how you look at it, it's obviously a teddy bear."

An anger mark appeared on Monokuma's head. "For the last time. I'm not a teddy bear, I'm Monokuma."

"Mono? Like monochromatic? But it's black and white, and one of its eyes is red," said Victor.

"And it says it's not a teddy bear when it very clearly is. This thing's like a living contradiction," said Mana. "What do you think it wants?"

"It said something about trapping us here, didn't it?" Adam asked.

"Did it? I kind of zoned out the moment it started talking," Hinageshi replied.

"It did, it said that it was planning to keep us trapped here forever. It must be what destroyed the bridge," Yoko replied.

"Gee-wiz, Sherlock. You figured that one out on your own?" Mirai asked in a condescending tone.

"It's not Sherlock, it's Herlock. Herlock Sholmes," Mireille annunciated. "Honestly who is this imposter you all keep talking about? She clearly looks the great detective, Herlock Sholmes."

Yoko sighed. "Why is my outfit the only thing you seem to be concerned about? We're trapped here, by a stuffed animal of all things. Is that nowhere on your list of priorities?"

"Hey…?" Monokuma tried to interject but he couldn't get a word in edge wise.

"This is too weird! I just want to get off this island!" Airi exclaimed. "Eliza-chan, there has to be some other way we can get out of here! Can't you call a private helicopter or something to come pick us up?!"

"I…I…" Eliza was too shocked to think straight. Then when she finally realized what Airi was asking her, she shook her head. "No…I don't have my cellphone on me."

"That should come as no surprise, I don't have mine either. It's really strange though, they left everything else I had in my bag untouched. Clearly our captors don't want interference from the outside world either," said Mana.

Yoko growled. "I'm still pretty pissed off at you for not even telling us you had a multi-tool with you! But right now I'm more pissed off at the fact that you're not taking our current situation more seriously!" Yoko snapped at Mana. "Why the hell are you so carefree?!"

Mana shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. Maybe I'm just not worried. I mean, whoever kidnapped us sent a robot designed like a cute teddy bear to come and talk to us. Clearly they can't be all bad."

"You guys…?" Monokuma still couldn't get anyone to listen to him.

"Your priorities are really out of whack," Yoko replied. "And how do you know that this thing is a robot?"

Mana giggled. "Come on, it's so obvious. I mean what else could it be? Teddy bears don't talk in real life."

"It certainly looks like a real stuffed animal," Koro replied. "It's stitch work is amazing. Don't you think so, Kiwi?" Koro asked his pet pigeon corpse.

"You're still carrying that thing around?" Taichi asked Koro.

"Yeah, don't you know? That's his pet," Mana replied like it was no big deal.

Taichi raised an eyebrow. Then he looked back to Koro, who was affectionately stroking Kiwi's head. "I just thought it was a dead animal he found in our cell. But I guess the fact that it's his pet makes more sense." Taichi like Mana seemed to not be able to comprehend the true magnitude of our situation. Either that or he didn't care.

"…" Yoko simply glared at Taichi. She had a look of pure hatred in her one good eye. Not that I didn't know the reason why.

Airi started to tear up. "Oh enough talking about the dead bird! It's creepy, we all get it! I just want to leave here, now!"

"Well that's not going to happen, so shut it!" Damion barked at Airi. "Flashy, classless women like you are better seen and not heard!"

"…" Airi immediately quieted down. It looked like she was scared of Damion more than anything else.

Damion sighed. "It looks like you do know how to listen to your superiors so maybe you're not completely hopeless. Now then, you there with the eyepatch."

"Me?" Yoko pointed at herself.

"Not you, the male," Damion pointed his cane at Victor.

"My name's Blood. Victor Blood. What do you want?" Victor replied coldly.

"Sorry, I'm not good with remembering the names of people who have no value to me," Damion replied in a condescending tone. "Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. During our incarceration together I overheard you mention that you worked as hired muscle before you were detained. Is that correct?"

"That was a long time ago," Victor replied. "What about it?"

"I'd like to request your services. I'll pay you ten-thousand in any currency of your choosing if you kill that unsightly abomination right there." Damion pointed his cane at Monokuma.

"Hey!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"It's an eyesore, an absolute assault to the senses. And I recall it distinctly belittling me earlier and questioning the methods in which I perform business. I cannot allow such an insult to go without a response," Damion explained. "So kill that ugly thing and I'll reward you handsomely."

"I don't kill, anyone or anything," Victor replied. "That's how I do business. And I won't let some pompous little prick like you question my methods."

Damion smirked. "A man who sticks to his beliefs. I admire that. Very well then, your services are not required Mr. Blood. See what I did there? I consider your life worth something now, so I bothered to remember your name." Then he loudly exclaimed, "Is there anyone here who's willing to get their hands dirty?! I'll up the price to five-hundred thousand!"

Opal raised her hand. "I'll take any job that pays well."

"Opal, no! You promised me you would stop!" Mirai exclaimed.

"It's a teddy bear, Mirai. Don't get your panties in a bunch," Opal replied sarcastically.

"A woman who's willing to get her hands dirty. Interesting, I can't say I have had the pleasure of meeting an assassin who's quite as young as you," Damion replied. "Most of the people who work for me are older than me."

"Don't let my looks fool you. I've killed over three-hundred different people. You may know me by business name. White Rose?" Opal replied.

Damion smirked. "The elusive White Rose, eh? I heard you were caught. So am I right to assume that girl behind you is Black Thorn, the rumored black hat hacker?"

Mirai nodded. "That's me," she said in a soft voice.

"The duo of Hack Attack, I didn't think I would be incarcerated with such enigmatic celebrities. I must say I thought you would both be taller," Damion replied.

"Shove it, you're good for the money, right?" Opal replied.

"But of course, you must know me by my business name as well. Ever hear of Caesar?" Damion asked.

"The Kingpin of Greece's Black Market Trade, eh? So you were chosen to come here too. Alright you have a deal. Is there any particular way you want the teddy bear to die?" Opal asked.

"I'll leave that for the professional to decide. Just make sure it's as gruesome as possible. Anyone who disrespects me deserves as much," Damion replied.

"Geez, I'm God and even I'm afraid of that guy," said Noriaki.

"What did I tell you about saying such blasphemies, you insolent cur?!" Ginrou shouted. "How badly do you want to die?!"

"Give it a rest already," Noriaki replied as he clasped his hands behind his head and stretched his arms in a bored manner. "I'm pretty sure our current situation means that your God has forsaken you."

Ginrou growled. "Rest assured, I will kill you when this is all over."

"You would kill God? Now that's a sin if I ever heard one," Noriaki replied with a demeaning chuckle.

At that point Monokuma seemed to get really pissed. Anger marks appeared all over his head. "Stop freaking ignoring me. It's not polite." His red eye increased its glow and he raised up his right paw in a threatening manner. And razor sharp, metal claws popped out of his paw.

"Whoa, he looks pretty mad," said Yosuke.

"Like I care, this thing's pissed me off so it deserves to die. Kill it, White Rose," Damion commanded.

Opal smirked. "With pleasure." Then, fast as lighting, Opal lunged at Monokuma and readied a powerful strike from her right fist.

"Where are your manners?" Monokuma asked as his red eye glowed brightly. Immediately, I could sense his killing intent.

My eyes widened. "Look out!" I shouted. But my warning fell on deaf ears. Opal was determined to knock Monokuma down with a single blow. She was fast and strong, if Monokuma was an ordinary robot she might've been able to end the fight with one punch alone. However, Monokuma was far from ordinary. That's why it was a huge surprise when Monokuma suddenly disappeared, making Opal's punch connect with nothing but air. Then I saw a black and white blur reach around Opal and elbow her in the back so hard that she came crashing down to the ground with great force. The impact was so powerful that I could swear I heard Opal's ribs crack.

Opal silently screamed in pain as she reeled from the impact. And the rest of us just stood back and watched. No one dared move. Monokuma then reappeared on the ground in front of Opal. He picked up Opal's head off the ground, by pulling hard on her hair, and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Opal!" Mirai screamed in terror.

"W-Wh-What the hell was that?" Yosuke asked. "She looked like she was going to hit him just a second ago, and then the next second she was on the ground. What just happened?"

"…" None of us had an answer.

Opal twitched in pain and glared at Monokuma through half-closed eyes. It looked like her fall had given her several nasty cuts and bruises on her face and body. Yet the whole time she continued to growl at Monokuma, letting him know that she wasn't finished with him. "What did…you just…do?" she growled.

"I dodged your blow and administered a counterattack to subdue you, inmate," Monokuma simply replied. "But you should know, I didn't want to have to do that. You came at me first; I was only defending myself."

"Bull…shit! Nothing…moves that…fast," Opal replied.

"I do, and I pack a nasty punch too," Monokuma replied with a chuckle. "Stick to what you know, inmate. You're a hitwoman, which means your area of expertise is assassination. Your frontal attacks are weak; they aren't going to work on me at all. Especially not with your slow reflexes."

Opal reached for Monokuma with her trembling right hand. "Kill you. I'll…fucking kill you."

"What's this? Still haven't learned your lesson, inmate?" Monokuma replied and then he reached for something on his utility belt. It was a baton, but not an ordinary one by the looks of it. It was branded with that malicious red scar eye, which made me immediately sure that it was bad news. "This is prison, inmate. Attacks on the Warden will not be tolerated." Monokuma pushed a button on the baton's handle and then the baton extended. "You're in need of dire punishment to make you understand that there are consequences to your actions." Then he pressed another button on the baton's handle and the baton began to spark with large amounts of blue electricity. "How about a little electro shock therapy to calm you down?"

"…!" Opal's eyes went wide at the sight of the abnormal electric baton.

"…" We wanted to help her, but our feet were completely glued to the ground in shock.

"I'll knock all that insubordination out of you toot sweet." Monokuma raised the electric baton over his head, preparing to strike down Opal. "Don't worry, this will only hurt a lot." Then he cackled maniacally. And then suddenly a large throwing knife flew at Monokuma at breakneck speed. Monokuma stopped cackling momentarily so he could block the knife with his electric baton. The knife fell to the ground and the blade stuck in the dirt. Monokuma turned to see where the knife had come from, and the rest of us looked behind us to see who had been brave enough to throw the knife. We were shocked to see Victor Blood, who still had his right arm raised in a throwing motion. He lowered his arm and then glared menacingly at Monokuma with his one good eye.

"Hora hora. Looks like you're in need of some punishment too, eh inmate?" Monokuma asked Victor.

"Let her go, and let us off of this island prison," Victor ordered Monokuma.

Monokuma snickered. "Or what?"

"Or, you'll force me to get serious," Victor replied and then he reached into the inside folds of his dress jacket and pulled out four more throwing knives. Two for each of his hands. "And believe me, you don't want that. I'm a shark, the moment I smell blood in the water I go into a frenzy."

Monokuma scoffed and laid Opal's head back down on the ground. Then he jumped over her fallen body and locked eyes with Victor. "Picking a fight with the Warden on your first day, inmate? Do you really want to be punished that badly?"

"Enough games," said Victor. Then he threw two of his knives at Monokuma, who dodged them gracefully and then lunged at Victor. We all got out of the way as Monokuma and Victor prepared to clash. Monokuma brandished his electric baton at Victor, who managed to keep up with Monokuma's speed and dodge and block Monokuma's attacks with his two remaining knives. Then Victor and Monokuma engaged in a furious, heated battle. Both of them were so fast, it was impossible to keep up with all their actions. The only thing we could tell was that Victor hanging in there as best as he could. But Monokuma was a robot and Victor was a human, so it was only a matter of time before their equal ground shifted. And then suddenly, Monokuma jumped up into the air and tried to bring his electric baton down upon Victor with a devastatingly powerful downward slash. Victor managed to block it by using both his knives to hold back Monokuma's electric baton. However, sparks continued to erupt from Monokuma's electric baton, painfully shocking Victor's hands and causing his block's hold to weaken. It looked like the battle was about to become one-sided.

" _Upupupupupu_!" Monokuma cackled. "This will teach you not to defy the Warden's will!"

Then suddenly Lucius picked up one of Victor's fallen knives and in an effort to help Victor, threw the knife as hard as could at Monokuma. " _Hyaaaaaaaaa_!" Lucius shouted as he chucked the knife as hard as humanly possible. Unfortunately, while focusing on increasing the power of his throw, Lucius forgot to aim properly and the knife ended up taking a shortcut to its target by cutting and flying through Mireille's top hat.

Mireille yelped in terror as she was nearly scalped. "Watch where you throw your weapons, you degenerate!" Mireille shouted at Lucius, as her top hat fell to the ground.

"S-Sorry!" Lucius exclaimed. Luckily, the knife then seemed to fly in a straight path towards Monokuma and Victor, who were still locked in a struggle.

Monokuma narrowly dodged the knife Lucius threw by moving his head at the last second. But this proved to be a mistake as Victor then did another inhuman act and managed to catch the knife with his mouth. Even Monokuma appeared to be shocked by this act. And that shock gave Victor just the edge he needed to push Monokuma back. Victor swung back his head and then used the knife to cut Monokuma into two at his neckline. Monokuma's body, head, and electric baton came crashing down to the ground. But remarkably, Monokuma still appeared to be alive, as his severed head began to speak to us. "How dare you do this to your Warden! You inmates are cruising for a bruising! I swear, I will punish each and every one of you with all the cruelty and malice that I can muster in my little bear body! I will make you regret the day you were…!" And then he was cut off when a cane came crashing down into his head and pierced his red eye. "…b-b-bo-bor-born!" Monokuma exclaimed before his voice went low and he turned off completely. His red eye went completely black and not a sound could be heard from his head.

"Just shut up already," said Damion as he withdrew his cane from Monokuma's severed head. Then he looked up at Victor. "Excellent work, Mr. Blood. But I thought you said that you don't kill?"

Victor took the third knife out of his mouth and then simply replied, "I'll make an exception if it's to save a third party. That girl would've died if I didn't do something. And besides, you were the one who really killed it. I thought you didn't like to get your hands dirty?"

Damion smirked. "I'll make an exception if it means finishing off someone I absolutely despise. That horrible cretin was a menace so I wanted to at least have the killing blow."

Victor looked at Lucius. "And you, thanks for tossing me that knife. I might've been a goner if it wasn't for your quick thinking."

Lucius seemed embarrassed. "Oh…umm thanks. It looked like you needed some help."

Mireille picked her hat up off the ground and made note of the large knife puncture that was now inside of it. "My hat is ruined!" she exclaimed. She glared daggers at Lucius. "A phantom thief is nothing without their stylish outfit! Expect to repay me for its replacement in the near future!"

Lucius seemed even more embarrassed. "Umm…sure thing. No problem."

Victor sweatdropped. "Although you might want to work on your aim."

"Hey, you ugly bitch are you dead?" we heard someone ask. We turned back to face the fallen Opal and saw that while she was now unconscious, someone else was up and active again. Kaori sat crouched down over Opal's fallen body. "If you're dead, can I eat your flesh? It's not like you're going to use it anymore," Kaori said to an unconscious Opal. "Say nothing, if it's okay for me to eat your flesh."

"…" Opal of course said nothing.

"It's a yes!" Kaori exclaimed as she tried to free herself from her restraints. Then when she saw us looking at her she motioned for us to come over to her. "One of you motherfuckers come over here and help me out of my restraints! It's feeding time!"

Fuyu walked up to Kaori without hesitation. "Hey what are you doing?! Don't help her eat my friend!" Mirai exclaimed.

"I wasn't going to," Fuyu replied when she was near Kaori. Fuyu kicked Kaori's legs and successfully managed to sweep her off her feet. Kaori ended up landing flat on her back with a loud _thud_. "I've wanted to do that to her all day. It's pretty hard for a person in a strait jacket to get on their feet, I was afraid to do it at first but the fact that she tried to eat us about half an hour ago gave me the courage to try and do it." Mirai giggled and then ran over to Opal's side to check on her friend's condition.

"You stupid four-eyed, fugly bitch! I will fucking murder you when I get back on my feet!" Kaori shouted. However, it seemed like that task was easier said than done. Kaori was as helpless as a turtle on its back side. She growled. "I will eat your fingers and toes one by one while you fucking watch!"

"Let me guess, cannibal?" Damion asked.

"Cannibal," I replied while nodding.

Damion sighed. "My, my, there are certainly some interesting individuals incarcerated here, aren't there?" Then he turned to look at Victor. "Well then Mr. Blood, I believe I owe you five-hundred thousand of a currency of your choice."

"I don't need it, give it to the girl when she wakes up. She earned it," Victor replied.

"Aww, that's really kind of you, Victor-chan. Perhaps I judged you too severely before, do you still want to be friends?" Koro asked Victor in a pleading tone.

"Get away from me, you freak," Victor replied sternly and then he went to gather up his remaining knives.

"Okie-dokie," Koro replied. "At least I asked. That's the important thing, right Kiwi?" Koro asked his pet pigeon corpse.

"Does he seriously not believe that the bird is dead?" Taichi asked.

"No he doesn't, he clearly suffers from severe delusions," Yoko replied.

Taichi stared at Yoko. "You look familiar. Have we met somewhere else before?" Taichi asked.

Yoko scoffed. "Figures you wouldn't remember me. I'm not your type after all."

"What?" Taichi replied.

"Nothing," Yoko replied.

Meanwhile, I decided to examine the body of the late Monokuma. I observed the inner working of the circuitry within his head and torso. It was state of the art. I had never seen anything quite like it. Whoever built Monokuma, was extremely versed in robotics, engineering, and computer science. "Did he really destroy the bridge?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it's dead now. We can't ask it," Damion replied. He looked over my shoulder and examined Monokuma's inner workings for himself. "Such an advanced piece of machinery in such a disgusting looking shell. Honestly, if our kidnappers' whole plan was to leave us stranded on this island with only this thing to keep watch over us, they didn't think it out that well. We've officially managed to destroy it completely."

Eliza, finally rousing from her initial shock, took the time to examine Monokuma as well. "How? How can this be happening? Who would do this? Who could do this?"

"Who indeed?" a familiar voice asked.

We all turned around to see a familiar bear robot, standing on top of the Icarus emblem above the prison's entrance. "No way! He's still alive?!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"No look, the robotic demon's vessel still remains an empty shell," said Ginrou. "This is another demon entirely."

"No way! There's more of them?!" Hinageshi shouted.

"Dammit!" Victor exclaimed as he prepared for battle again. "And I barely managed to subdue the last one."

"This thing is really tiring," Damion said with an added growl.

"What the hell are you?!" Airi shouted at Monokuma.

Anger marks covered Monokuma's face. "I'm getting really tired of answering that question! I'll say it one more time! So listen up and listen good, you worthless bastards! I am Monokuma, I am your Warden! I am a high-tech robotic bear created by an unknown individual in order to keep you inmates locked up here and make your lives a living hell!"

"So not only do you plan to keep us here, you wish to torture us too?" Damion asked. "That's all I needed to hear. Mr. Blood!"

"Right!" Victor replied as he readied to attack.

"Hold up, you tried attacking him directly last time and you barely beat him. Then another one just showed up and caused us even more grief. I say we listen to what he wants this time," said Noriaki.

"Speak with this toy? I think not, I wouldn't dare demean myself to converse with that thing like it's a living being," Damion replied.

Monokuma seemed depressed. "Aww, that hurts my feelings. I'm as real as any of you guys here."

"Hey Monokuma?" Mana called out. "Mind if I ask a question?"

"Sure thing Mana-chan, go ahead. I'm so happy someone's finally talking to me one on one," Monokuma replied.

"You…well the other you actually said something before about a mutual killing game? What's that?" Mana asked.

Monokuma seemed delighted. "Oh-ho, I'm so glad someone finally asked the important question."

"Well in a nutshell, Mana-chan, the mutual killing game is a game in which you, the players, kill each other one by one until only two players remain. I was created to be the Warden of this prison and make sure that the mutual killing game planned at this location goes off without a hitch."

"You…you seriously want us to kill each other?" I asked in horror.

"I thought that was just a joke," Airi said while cowering in fear.

"Nope, no joke. You've all been very naughty children, and as such my creator has decided to punish you in the most brutal way imaginable. You can either remain here on this island of your own free will, and die a boring natural death many, many, many years from now. Or you can kill each other and get a chance to escape," Monokuma explained.

"Killing each other is our punishment? How does that make sense? Most of us are in here for murder," Damion replied. "This is a load of bull, you said before that someone's controlling you, right? I demand that person come out here right now and explain their intentions."

"Sorry, I'm the only one here. My creator made me with an AI, which means this cheerful personality is Monokuma au naturel," Monokuma replied.

"So it's a literal killing game then, eh?" Mana asked. "So if I'm understanding you correctly, then all we need to do if we want to leave the prison is kill someone, right?"

"What?!" Eliza exclaimed in horror.

"Yes indeedy, the price for a life free away from this prison in the middle of nowhere is one life in return. One stolen life. There are twenty of you here, and that means you all have a chance at freedom, all you have to do is kill one of your fellow inmates," Monokuma continued to explain.

"You mean anyone who's willing to kill someone here will get to leave?" Adam asked.

Monokuma sighed. "Yes, don't you guys get it already?! This is becoming annoying and repetitive!"

"And how are we supposed to kill each other exactly?" Taichi asked.

"Wait, why would you even ask that?!" Eliza exclaimed.

"How?" Monokuma replied as he cocked his head to the side. "That doesn't matter. Stabbing, shooting, bludgeoning, suffocating, strangling, hanging, drowning, poisoning, electrocuting, burning, freezing, maiming, tearing, hexing! There are millions of different ways to commit murder!" Monokuma put his paws over his mouth as he stifled a cackle. "All you need to do is make sure your murder attempt actually makes your victim lose their pulse. Do that and you gain a chance to free yourself from this island prison."

"A chance?" Victor repeated.

"Well you didn't think it would be that easy did you? No killing someone is just the first step; the real prize is only accessible to a killer who survives the main event. The class trial," Monokuma explained.

"Class trial?" Fuyu repeated the words.

"That's right, I'm sure you're all very familiar with how trials work. Well in the Death Row of Mutual Killing, you will also be forced to participate in a trial whenever someone turns up dead. But a class trial is a bit different than what you may be used to. In a class trial, the killer, the "blackened", will face off against the innocents, the "spotless", in a free for all debate as to who you think the killer is. And if the blackened manages to escape being caught in the class trial, then their rehabilitation will be considered completed and they will be able to leave this prison and never return. That's it, that's all a killer has to do to earn their freedom," Monokuma explained.

"T-That's horrible!" Eliza shouted.

"And if by chance, what happens if the killer doesn't win the class trial?" Yoko asked out of curiosity.

"Then they get executed," Monokuma simply replied.

"Ex-Executed," Yosuke stuttered out.

"That's right, in exchange for taking a life, their life will be taken away as repayment. Those who disrupt peace in this world are punished by being sent to prison, but here at this prison the rules are different, you disrupt the peace here and get caught, you get executed. It's just that simple," Monokuma explained. "But if the killer does manage to win the class trial and earn their freedom, everyone besides the killer will be executed instead, and the killer alone will be allowed to leave this prison. Them's the rules, well the basic rules at least," Monokuma replied.

"Th-That's insane! There is no way any of that is happening! No one is going to participate in your sick game!" Eliza shouted at Monokuma. "Right, guys?!"

"…"

"Right, guys?!" Eliza shouted again.

"…" Still no one replied.

"Right?"

"…" I couldn't even force myself to respond.

Eliza then realized the horror that she was facing. It appeared that everyone besides her was willing to go along with this insanity in order to leave Icarus. I looked at her face, it was filled with utter despair. Despair so black, so foul, so chilling that it was hard to look directly at it. And for some reason, I couldn't force myself to agree with her, maybe because I was already filled with despair. I was wise to the actions of the kinds of people we were imprisoned with, if it came down to them and us, they would choose to save their own selves in a heartbeat. That was just the way of the kind of people we were dealing with. Murderers, rapists, and thieves. They were all despicable, they wouldn't hesitate to do something so horrible, which was why I knew it was meaningless to try and fight the despair.

"…" Eliza looked at me in a pleading manner.

"…" And I simply looked away.

"It seems that you're outnumbered, Eliza-chan," Monokuma replied with a cackle. "Don't take it personally though, it's basic human nature to survive at no matter what cost. What's really bad is trying to fight that instinct."

"…" Eliza was too shocked to say anything in reply.

" _Upupupupupupupupupu_!" Monokuma cackled. "Well then it seems like you've all decided that you want to play. So, what are we waiting for? Let the Death Row of Mutual Killing begin!" Monokuma exclaimed.

And that was the beginning of our little despairful story. Eliza needed me, and I abandoned her. But you have to understand, I wasn't the person that I am now back then. Back when there was even still a shred of normality left, I was already tainted with despair. My faith in humanity was lost long ago, as was my ability to trust others. And it would take nothing short of a miracle to restore my hope. So if you were thinking that this is the story of how my little bit of hope managed to conquer the dark despair that surrounded us, think again. This is the story of how I managed to conquer the despair that was already inside me, and find the hope to carry on and believe that the world would one day get better. But of course, that's a long way down the road. I hope you're okay with someone who's already embraced despair, being your protagonist. It seems kind of anticlimactic, doesn't it?

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A/N: Next week the rules of the mutual killing game and the first area's locations are revealed. Till next time.


	11. Chapter 1, Part 2

A/N: Hey guys, sorry this update's shorter than what I usually write. Midterms are here at my college, dealing with that's been really hectic. Plus, Shyjoker and I haven't completely finished designing the first floor of the prison yet so it's a little early for the exploration. But this part adds a bit more information to the game, and presents the rules for said game. So, happy reading. Talk to you again at the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

 **Chapter 1, Part 2: Hope at the bottom of the box**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1: SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY MASTERMIND**

* * *

" _Upupupupupupupupupu_!" Monokuma cackled. "Well then it seems like you've all decided that you want to play. So, what are we waiting for? Let the Death Row of Mutual Killing begin!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"So this is really happening? We're going to really kill each other?" Yosuke asked in a shocked tone.

"If you had any real objections to those rules, you would've spoken up when you had the chance," Damion replied. "Stop acting so innocent. We both know you're not."

"…" Yosuke didn't know how to reply.

"I've never played a game with friends before, much less a killing game," said Koro. "This should be lots of fun." He seemed really excited about all of this.

"You're that excited to die?" Taichi asked with an added scoff.

"Die? So I might die? One of my friends might kill me?" Koro asked in a frightened tone. Then he laughed it off. "That sounds like a lot of fun."

"Do you even know what death is?" Mana asked.

"No not really, people say that about Kiwi all the time but I never really know what they mean so I just deny it. The nice doctors at my old hospital said that the same thing happened to my mom and dad. The last thing I remember was fixing them and their relationship, I don't know what happened after that, and neither does Kiwi," Koro replied as he held up his pet pigeon corpse.

"I guess that answers my question. You are completely out of your mind," Mana replied.

Koro chuckled. "I like you, let's be friends too."

"No thanks," Mana simply replied.

Then we were shocked to see Opal get up off the ground. "Opal don't push yourself," Mirai said to her friend in a worried tone. Opal simply grunted in reply as she stood up on her feet again. She looked badly bruised on her face, and I was sure I saw a few blood stains on her clothes. She had taken a powerful blow from Monokuma, it was a miracle she was even able to stand up so soon after that.

"I'm…fine, Mirai," Opal replied. "We've got bigger…things to deal with."

"Umm, I got back up on my feet too if anyone cares," said Kaori, who had also managed to get back up on her feet after a lot of struggling.

"Yeah, no one cares," Fuyu replied in her usual cold manner.

"Fuck you, you fugly bitch!" Kaori shouted at Fuyu.

"I'm fugly? Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Fuyu replied in her usual unconcerned tone.

Kaori growled. "God dammit, I fucking hate you! I'm going to fucking kill you first!"

"Hey now, let's all try to get along, okay?" Hinageshi replied in a soft and scared tone. Even though she was frightened of our current circumstances and both of the…unique girls, she tried to be the voice of reason.

"Butt out, you bland bitch! Who gives two shits what you think?!" Kaori snapped at Hinageshi, and Hinageshi cowered in fear.

"That's what you get for trying to get involved," said Fuyu.

"…" Hinageshi didn't respond.

Opal began to speak again. "Anyway, I heard a little…about what that freaking robot wants. It's a…killing game, right?" Opal smirked. "It sucks to be…you guys. I'm a trained…killer. I have…a natural edge."

"Opal, no! No more killing!" Mirai exclaimed.

"What? But, Mirai…" Opal seemed genuinely shocked.

"I don't want you to kill anyone anymore," Mirai replied. "We're not that desperate anymore, you don't have to do it just to survive."

"If…if you really felt that way then why…didn't you speak up earlier?" Opal asked.

"Because it felt wrong deciding what we would do without you. We're a team, always have been, always will be. But I just want you to know, I don't like it when you kill. You're different, you're scary. I…I don't want you to have to act that way anymore, especially not for my sake," Mirai replied. The shorter girl said as she looked up at her taller friend.

"…" Opal didn't know what to say.

"Please, promise me. No more killing," said Mirai.

Opal scoffed and shook her head. "You're a…weird girl, Mirai. You say the meanest things…to people, but don't want things…to escalate anything beyond that. All this time…why didn't you say anything?"

"We did what we did to support each other, but things have changed," Mirai replied. "I don't want you to kill anymore. So please, for me? Will you stop?"

Opal sighed. "Dummy, you know I…can't say no to you when you look at me…with those big puppy-dog eyes."

Mirai giggled and hugged Opal. "I know, I just wanted to hear you say it."

"What's this having a change of heart, eh?" Monokuma asked. "Looks like it's a little too late though, Eliza-chan's completely out of it."

"…" He wasn't kidding, Eliza appeared to be staring off into space at that moment. She looked incredibly distraught.

"Such delicious despair. She's already realized the hopelessness of her efforts. You've all let her down," Monokuma replied. "Even if you're not planning to kill, not a single one of you dared to stand up for her. You're all heartless bastards. Look at what you've done to her. She's completely crushed."

I could feel him staring at me in particular. 'Damn this fucking robot', I swore in my mind.

"Eliza-chan," Hinageshi called out to Eliza in her usual soft-spoken tone.

"…" And Eliza didn't respond.

"I feel really bad, you guys," said Airi.

"Who cares about that troublesome girl anyway?" Damion asked. "It's her fault we're here in the first place. Now then, Monokuma," Damion spat out his name. "Tell me, what are the other rules for this so-called Death Row of Mutual Killing?" he asked.

"Ooh, you knew there were more rules, Damion-kun? You're one smart cookie," Monokuma replied.

"Silence, when you take in the illogical nature of all this, it would make sense to have a lot of rules for the game to simulate order. After all you can't play any game without strict rules, not even a killing game," Damion explained.

"Well, no matter. You're right, all the same," Monokuma replied. "Allow me to present you with the rules for this killing game, as well as a vital tool that will aid you throughout it." Monokuma hopped back down to the ground in a sort of superhero landing style. Then he reached into his uniform's shirt and produced a small, black and white, rectangular electronic device. It was very flat, and almost looked like a keycard of some sort. Then suddenly, nineteen other Monokumas appeared from behind him, and they also showed us that they were holding onto similar devices. One by one, each Monokuma gave us one of the devices. And then finally, the original Monokuma gave me mine. "That's all boys, back to your posts," the original Monokuma ordered. Then the other Monokumas simply disappeared into thin air. "Well go on, take a look. Press the button on the front, and check out the rules for yourselves," said Monokuma.

"Umm, what the fuck am I supposed to do with this?!" Kaori shouted at Monokuma. Her device was simply left at her feet.

"Oh right, umm someone help her out," said Monokuma.

"I've got it, here you go Kaori-chan," Hinageshi said as she held up Kaori's device to her face. Even though she had snapped at her just a few short minutes ago, Hinageshi was still trying to be nice to Kaori.

Kaori simply growled at Hinageshi in reply. I guess she didn't like be treated like she was helpless. But nonetheless, she swallowed her anger and allowed Hinageshi to be her assistant. Meanwhile, I decided to check out my device as well. I pressed the button on my device and a whimsical ringtone played. I heard the others' devices turn on as well. I was greeted with a message upon the device's complete boot up.

* * *

 _PANDORA PRISON e-ID_

 _WELCOME, INMATE #19_

* * *

And then the screen showed a profile picture of me and my side view, similar to a mugshot photo. It also listed my basic information and a title under my name. It read: _Ultimate Criminal Talent: Ultimate Detective_. 'What's this? Ultimate Criminal Talent? How is being a detective a criminal talent? Much less an Ultimate Criminal Talent?' I asked myself. Then I looked to the side of the device's screen and saw that there were several tabs that led to different screens. The tabs were listed from top to bottom as follows: _Criminal Profiles_ , _Presents_ , _Evidence/Ammunition_ , _Rules and Regulations_ , and _Settings_. 'This must be the rules for the killing game that Monokuma was talking about,' I thought to myself as I pressed the _Rules and Regulations_ tab. Then I was brought to a screen that had a list of rules with odd diagrams used as examples.

* * *

 _1) 8:00 A.M. – 10:00 P.M. is designated as Daytime. During this time, inmates are free to converse and stroll around the Academy._

 _2) 10:00 P.M – 8:00 A.M is designated as Nighttime. During this time, the mess hall will be closed and the water will be turned off. Getting rest is encouraged, but inmates are still allowed to roam the halls after Nighttime begins._

 _3) Inmates are free to explore Pandora's Academy for Horrible and Gifted Juvenile Delinquents at their own discretion. However, areas that are locked off are out of bounds and trying to break into them or pick any locks will be met with severe punishment._

 _4) Prison inmates who remain at Pandora's Academy must compete in the Death Row of Mutual Killing. Inmates will not be directly forced to kill but grave consequences may be incurred by not killing. Those inmates who choose to kill will be given a chance to complete their rehabilitation and leave the Academy._

 _5) Motives will be given out by Warden Monokuma at random times to incite killing. These motives will range from enticing to downright cruel. Anything can be used to get inmates to kill. Be wary of this._

 _6) Warden Monokuma will never directly harm any inmate, unless an inmate tries to harm him first._

 _7) When three inmates discover a dead body, the Corpse Discovery Announcement will play and let every other inmate know that a murder has been committed._

 _8) When a murder has been committed, after a brief investigation period a Class Trial will be held. During a Class Trial, inmates will be forced to debate about who they think the killer is._

 _9) If the killer (the blackened) is correctly chosen amongst the majority of the innocent inmates (the spotless), the blackened inmate alone will be executed for their crimes and the spotless inmates will be able to continue breathing for another day._

 _10) However, if the spotless inmates choose incorrectly then every inmate besides the blackened inmate will be executed instead and the blackened inmate alone will be allowed to complete their rehabilitation and will gain their freedom._

 _11) As an added challenge, there will be unique events held during Class Trials. These events will remain a surprise until the first Class Trial begins. At that time, this rule will be updated._

 _12) Each blackened is only allowed to kill a maximum of two inmates, any more victims will result in severe punishment._

 _13) The Death Row of Mutual Killing will continue until someone completes their rehabilitation or there are only two inmates remaining._

 _14) Destruction of surveillance cameras and video monitors will be met with severe punishment._

 _15) Inmates are required to carry their Pandora Prisoner e-IDs on their person at all times. Failure to do so will result in severe punishment._

 _16) Warden Monokuma reserves the right to add more rules if he so wishes. It is each inmate's responsibility to be aware of every one._

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Yosuke asked. "There's so many rules, it's like…it's like this is an actual game."

"It is a game, a game with very deadly penalties for losing," Monokuma replied with a cackle. "These are your Prisoner e-IDs by the way. They're a very important item, so be sure to take good care of them."

"Just as I thought, you truly are a sociopath to put so much thought into something as morbid as this. Your creator, they must be a very twisted individual indeed," said Damion.

"I have a question, you little robotic demon. What is this rule about?" Ginrou asked as he held up his Pandora Prison e-ID for us to see. He was currently one rule twelve. "Why are we only allowed to kill two people at a time?"

"Oh that rule is to keep the killing game going as long as possible, there are various people among you who have no problem killing as many people as they can. If one person killed everybody in one go that would be a pretty boring game, wouldn't it? And weren't you yourself planning to kill everyone here as soon as you all escaped, Ginrou-kun?" Monokuma asked.

"Execute, not kill. I only punish sinners, I never act as the sinner," Ginrou explained. "I am a tool for God to use as he sees fit, I never execute anyone unless he tells me to do so."

"Oh in that case, will you kill anyone I ask you to?" Noriaki asked.

"I have another question, you robotic demon. If I execute this blasphemous cur right now as God so commands, will a Class Trial still be held?" Ginrou asked.

"Yep, you did ki…execute someone, alright," Monokuma answered. "It will just be a very boring Class Trial since you'll have a lot of witnesses to the crime. They'll immediately vote for you, and that'll be the end."

"I see; in that case I must hold back my willingness to unleash God's wrath," Ginrou replied.

"Aww bummer, even if it meant my death I kind of really want you dead as well, so it would have been worth it," Noriaki asked. "You're a high and mighty asshole who doesn't realize just how crazy you really are. If you keep up with this attitude you're going to be voted as the lowest rated player for sure."

"What the hell are you blabbering about?" Victor asked.

"Oh I'm kind of a mediocre gamer," Noriaki replied. "I only like certain games though, RPGs and the like that have a rich story mainly. And if you think about it, isn't this whole setup kind of a perfect example of that?" Noriaki asked. Then he chuckled. "Interesting characters, a unique setting, and a very powerful plot. If I wasn't one of the characters in this thing, I would really enjoy playing this game from an outside perspective. It would probably start out as a dark indie game with a small but noticeable cult following, but who knows maybe one day it could turn into an event that everyone in the world looks forward to with immeasurable blood lust. So in a twisted way, this all sounds really fun."

"And you're no better than the boy with the dead pet," said Mana. "Geez, just how many of you are absolutely criminally insane?"

"Oh, you think I'm insane?" Noriaki asked Mana. Then he chuckled and held his arms behind his head. "Maybe I am, but then again a person who calls himself God would have to be insane, don't you think? I have a God complex; I'm not denying it. I'm just trying to explain that to me, your opinions mean nothing. Abbott-chan told me herself when we first met, a person with a God complex believes that no matter what, they are absolutely correct about everything. Other people are always wrong, I'm always right. In my twisted mind, that's how I see the world. So quite frankly, I don't give a damn what you think, you stupid pig. Shut up and die," Noriaki said with a gentle tone and a smile.

Ginrou growled. "I'm strongly reconsidering my decision not to execute you where you stand."

Noriaki chuckled. "If you think you can get away with it, by all means try and kill me anytime you want, Kubikiri-kun. Tenshi will accept your hate with his complete loving grace. But don't get your hopes up, after all it's not like a sadistic maggot with some worthless Moses complex can stand up to the might of an all-powerful being with a God complex. God commands Moses, Moses obeys. That's just the way it is. So Kubikiri-kun, you too, shut up and die," Noriaki said with an equally gentle tone.

"Even though the stuff he's saying is horrible, he keeps that gentle smile on the whole time. He's a pure, unadulterated sociopath," said Fuyu.

Noriaki simply chuckled in reply to the negative comment.

"How? How can you say all of that stuff with a straight face?" Lucius asked. "Don't you care at all what happens to us? Don't you even care if you end up dying?"

Noriaki chuckled. "Of course I care if I die, but if I do I'll just be reborn again. I'm God, I'm immortal. And as for the rest of you, I could give two shits. Go off and die, your very existence is insulting to Tenshi's grace."

"And here I thought Tenshi was supposed to be all loving," Mirai replied. "I knew all that stuff you said online was total garbage. I can't believe some of my hacker friends still fell for it though."

"I love those who choose to live their lives in my name. If you want me to give you the time of day, convert to my religion. I'm always accepting new followers," Noriaki replied.

"As history has taught us, those who choose to play God end up paying the ultimate price in the end," said Hinageshi, putting in her two cents.

"Oh, nothing's going to happen. Don't worry about me," Noriaki replied. "All my followers adore me. They would do anything for me. Even when I'm stuck here in prison, they worship the very ground I walk on. If I play my cards right, I might end up ruling the whole world one day. Then everybody would praise Tenshi's name forever. I wonder, will I receive even more glory and more followers if I show them my might in this killing game?"

"Show your followers? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Oh come on, you seriously haven't considered it? It seems so obvious to me," Noriaki replied.

"What seems so obvious?" I asked.

Mana reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a small ball that upon taking a closer look I realized was a camera. "I believe what he's talking about is this. I found this in the cell we woke up in, it's a different kind of camera compared to the ones that are used inside the building for surveillance. With the size of this camera, I can't imagine that we were supposed to find it so easily. This is for watching us in secret. I don't think Monokuma, or even the person controlling him would have much use for these since they could just use the security cameras inside the building to monitor us. Which means, this must be for someone else to watch us through."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Yosuke asked.

"I mean, I think there are people who are actually watching us right now. An audience, if you will," Mana replied.

"Y-You've got to be kidding, people are watching us right now?!" Airi exclaimed. "Why aren't they doing anything to help us?!"

" _Upupupupupu_ , wouldn't you like to know?" Monokuma replied. "Well too bad, that's a trade secret."

"So I was right, people are watching us right now. They're going to watch us compete in the killing game," said Noriaki. "How exciting is that? I get to show my grace for an audience this time. I couldn't afford to do videos on the off-chance that I might get spotted by the cops, so I was always forced to use anonymous multi-media. It feels so good, knowing that my face is already out there in the open."

"Th-This is getting heavy, are there seriously other people who are watching this?" Lucius asked. "Why aren't they helping us?"

"Why would they try and help us? In case you've forgotten, we're all criminals. If there are people watching us, then they probably think we're all getting what we deserve," Yoko explained.

"You think they're jerking off to this disgusting shit right now?" Kaori asked.

"As always you say the most horrid things," said Fuyu.

"Though that is probably the case. The people who watch perverse snuff films such as these are very dark and perverted," Damion replied. "I should know; I've had the displeasure of having several of those films made for my clients."

"And yet you had no moral quandary with it?" Victor asked.

"I'm a business man, we do unscrupulous things on a daily basis. They say there are only two jobs a psychopath is able to fill. That of a murderer, and that of a good business man," Damion explained. "The question is; which one do you think I am?"

"So the hitwoman…backs out and the client takes…on the job himself," Opal replied. "I guess the rumors…about you haven't been…exaggerated, Caesar. You really are…unorthodox."

"Unorthodox methods are what keep me a top this dog eat dog world," Damion simply replied. "To be successful you have to be willing to do anything to accomplish your goals, even getting your hands dirty."

"So you've already made up your mind then? You're going to kill?" I asked.

"But of course, if no one is coming to help us, and there really is no other way off of this island, then the next logical step is to do the unthinkable. Rest assured, I will be the one to win this killing game," Damion replied.

"Geez, chum. You are truly a monster, I guess I know who I should watch out for the most," said Adam.

"Definitely, I'd heard tell of Caesar during my exploits across Europe. They said he was as ruthless, commanding, and cunning as Julius Caesar himself. Some even believed he was his reincarnation. I can relate to having a great name to live up to as well. But I'm afraid I have to decline participating in this killing game as well. A Phantom Thief's sole purpose is to steal, but stealing life does not appeal to me at all. Arsene Lupin was the perfect gentlemen along with being a thief, and I'm no different," said Mireille. "Not an ounce of blood shall be spit by moi." Then she showed off her top hat, which still had a gaping hole in it due to Lucius' earlier quick thinking. "However, I will beat a certain degenerate to within an inch of his life if my costume is not restored to its former glory soon."

"…" Lucius was silent as he sweat bullets.

"I don't want to kill anyone either," said Airi. "I was just too afraid to speak up before. I'm so sorry, Eliza-chan."

"…" Eliza looked at Airi but she didn't respond.

"I don't think any of us want to compete in this game for real," said Victor.

"But you still intend to?" I asked.

"If it comes down to me and someone else, I'll choose me. No qualms against it, that's just one of the rules I live by," Victor replied.

"What a lonely way to live," Hinageshi replied.

"Well it's not like I plan to compete either, but I'd kind of like to know where all of this insanity goes. It seems pretty interesting, save for the being forced to kill each other part," said Mana.

"It's the same for me, I'm not going to do anything, but it's not like I have anywhere else I can go in the meantime. Besides, it's not all bad," Taichi smirked. "There's a girl I have my eye on here."

Yoko glared daggers at Taichi. "I hope…I hope you die by the end of this."

Taichi scoffed. "That was completely out of nowhere. Seriously, have we met somewhere before? I think I would remember a girl like you."

"I…I was at your trial," Yoko replied in a weak voice.

"Oh? Did I hurt someone you loved?" Taichi asked in a fake-concerned tone. He had a natural talent for faking his emotions. There wasn't anybody who wouldn't fall for his crocodile tears, save for the people who knew what he truly was.

Yoko looked away. "Never mind." Then she looked up at Monokuma. "Monokuma, I have a question for you. Throughout these rules there are several mentions of an Academy. Pandora's Academy for Horrible and Gifted Juvenile Delinquents? What exactly is that? Are you referring to the prison?"

Monokuma chuckled. "In a way."

"Wait, I thought this joint was called Icarus…something or other," said Adam.

"It was, back when hope still ruled over this tiny little island with a single building. But unfortunately for you guys that isn't the case anymore. I was going to have Eliza-chan explain all this, but it looks like she's still indisposed at the moment, so I'll take over for her. The story of Icarus, is one very similar to yours. The great Greek craftsman Daedalus, and his young son Icarus were imprisoned inside a labyrinth on the island of Crete by King Minos. The labyrinth Daedalus originally created for King Minos to imprison the nasty monster, known simply as the Minotaur, ended up being his own prison for the crime of helping King Minos' enemy, Theseus, find his way out of the labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur. To escape he fashioned wings made of wax and feathers for him and Icarus to use to fly to freedom, and in the end, as you probably all know, Icarus flew too close to the sun and burned his wings. Some people even believe that this story is where the term "wings of freedom" originated from. While tragic, in its own right, the underlying theme of this Greek myth is to inspire hope for those who are imprisoned. At least that was Eliza-chan's intention," Monokuma replied.

"My father used to tell me those myths as bed-time stories," Damion replied. "The tale of Icarus certainly relates to our circumstances, but exactly how does the tale of Pandora relate to us?"

"You don't think it relates to you at all?" Monokuma asked. "Icarus and Daedalus were imprisoned for helping a hero defeat his enemy, but all of you have committed far greater sins, right? Murder, theft, mayhem, chaos. You were responsible for all these things and more. Your crimes are pure sin, much like the sins that were trapped inside of Pandora's Box. You all went and peeked inside the box and those sins escaped into the world. As it stands now, the world would be a better place if none of you never existed. I'm certain the families of your victims would be grateful for that."

"But not all of us are like that, some of just made a few mistakes," said Airi.

"Mistakes? Please, you're all guilty as sin in my eyes. Don't try to defend yourself inmate. No, I see no other options for you in life now. True rehabilitation is meaningless. You are forever stained with the mark of a criminal. Even if Eliza-chan's rehabilitation methods worked and you all would have abandoned your criminal ways in the end, it doesn't change the fact that when you are finally able to leave prison, society will still disregard you. If you've sinned once, you'll sin again. Sin isn't something you can get rid of so easily. That's the whole point of prisons, people lock away all the sinners and the despair that they create inside boxes made of iron and concrete. Well I say, if the world doesn't want or need you guys than you should show them that you don't need it either. So I decided to create my own prison, a prison dedicated to bettering your criminal talents, instead of disregarding them as sins," Monokuma explained.

"Better our criminal talents? What do you mean by that?" Mana asked.

"I want you to be sinners forever!" Monokuma exclaimed. Spread as much despair as humanly possible! Rape, torture, murder, and steal even more than you already have! Make the world a literal Hell on Earth!" Then he cackled madly.

"So you really don't want us to change, do you?" Yosuke asked. "You want us to remain the same. Then how is this a prison if we aren't being punished?"

"Oh, stupid little inmate. Rest assured, there will be plenty of punishment. But also a lot of rewards as well. Who the hell offers the stick, but not the carrot? This isn't an ordinary prison anymore, no it's something else. It's a school for you to develop your awesomely horrible criminal talents, and upon your rehabilitation, make the world suffer as much as you have suffered. Take the despair I give you and give it right back to the world!" Monokuma shouted.

Something in me just snapped and I began to shout. "Shut the hell up!"

"…" Everyone seemed to be surprised at my sudden outburst.

"Oh? Kogoro-kun, you have something to say?" Monokuma asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"You're damn right I do! Where the hell do you get off saying all this bull crap?! You want us to be punished and yet you're telling us to take pride in our criminal talents?! What is your game here?! What the hell do you want from us?! No more BS! Just stop with the games and give us a freaking straight answer all ready!" I shouted.

Monokuma was silent at first and then he began to cackle again. His cackle grew louder, and louder, and louder still until it seemed to be the only thing that could be heard for miles on end. Then when he finally stopped cackling, he looked down at me and replied in his whimsical voice. "Despair. All I want is despair. I want you guys to despair over this killing game and all the motives that I will throw at you. I want you to feel so much despair that your hardened little criminal bodies can't take it anymore and you break down on the floor and cry your eyes out. I want to see that expression of pure horror on your face, when you realize that there is no hope at all. And then, I want the world to despair over you guys. Rest assured, one of you will win this game. And when that happens, the world will shudder in fear at the mere mention of this master criminal's name. I want the world to become such a despairful place that people don't even have the willpower to breathe. This end, is a fitting end for the most disappoint species to ever walk the face of the Earth. I want mankind to kill itself. That's all I want."

I was completely unnerved. It was like the life had been sucked out of me. I knew this feeling, I knew this feeling all too well. Despair. Pure, unadulterated despair. It was so intense that it made it hard to even breathe. I felt like I was going to pass out any second from its overwhelming magnitude. And then he just added fuel to the fire. "But I tell you what, Kogoro-kun? How about, you and me make a special bet to spice this killing game up even more?" Monokuma suddenly asked me.

"Huh?" I replied in confusion.

"I'll make a deal with you and only you. If you can figure out the identity of my master and creator before only two inmates remain, I'll automatically end the killing game and let everyone go. My creator will even turn their self in and rot away in prison for the rest of their natural life, or be swiftly put to death. Your choice. You do this, and you win. What do you say? Oh, too late. I already added it as a rule. Everyone check your Prisoner e-IDs again," said Monokuma.

My Prisoner e-ID let out its whimsical ringtone again, and I could hear everyone else's do the same. I opened up the _Rules and Regulations_ tab again and scrolled through them until I found the new rule. Then my eyes widened as I read what was on the screen.

* * *

 _17) If Kogoro Akechi, the Ultimate Detective, can correctly guess the identity of the Mastermind behind the Death Row of Mutual Killing before only two inmates remain, the game will automatically end and all remaining inmates will be allowed to leave._

* * *

"Ultimate Detective? So you were a rat this whole time, eh?" Damion asked. "I thought there was something off about you. My instincts are never wrong."

"He's not just any detective too, he's the famous Kogoro Akechi," said Noriaki. "The guy who caught me, Kubikiri-kun, and Kiriko-kun," said Noriaki. "I've wanted to put a face to the name for so long. You're a hard man to find, even hard for a God to find. Expect divine punishment in your future."

"So, you were the one who impeded on my work of administering God's wrath?" Ginrou asked. "At last we meet."

"Did you hear that, Kiwi? Turns out we've already been friends with Kogoro-chan for quite some time," Koro said to his pet pigeon corpse.

"Kogoro Akechi. It is you, I knew I remembered that name. And that face, there's no doubt about it, you're that boy from that day." Kaori licked her lips. "I'd never forget someone with blood as tasty as yours. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"…" As for the others they simply looked away from me. Even Airi and Yoko, who were already quite aware of my situation. And just like that, I had a target on my back. A detective trapped in a prison, it's a very bad position to be in. To be honest, I was really scared at that point. I feared for my own life. But then someone eased my doubts. Eliza suddenly grabbed ahold of my hand and squeezed it as hard as she could. I looked at her in confusion. And she simply smiled in return. I felt like a monumental jerk, I neglected her when she needed me the most and when the tables were turned she didn't even hesitate.

"It's okay, I'm here for you. We have to stick together, no matter what," Eliza whispered. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

That was when I realized, the person who created Monokuma, they were like the others. Damaged beyond repair, with no desire to even try and get repaired. They embraced despair, took pleasure in chaos, reveled in other's suffering. If they weren't stopped, they would get their wish. They would make the world feel utter despair. I had to catch them, the world literally depended on it. And for the first time in a long time I felt the tiniest bit of hope deep, deep inside me. At that point, I felt like Pandora's Box. Underneath all the darkness and despair, lied hope at the very bottom of the box. I could reach it if I tried, I just had to dig deep into the darkness. Deeper than I've ever had to go. Because it was there, I knew it was. I was unsure of what to do at first, blindsided by what I knew the criminals would choose. So unsure, that I forgot to make a decision for myself. I didn't want to kill. I didn't want to become like them. Above everything else, that had to be my top concern. I could not become like them, no matter what. And it appeared that the only way to stop this killing game before it could begin was to rely on my detective skills to guide me to the truth. The only question at that point was, would I be able to do it before one of the others gave into despair and killed?

* * *

A/N: And that's the end. Next time, we explore the first accessible area. Look forward to it.


	12. Chapter 1, Part 3

A/N: Alright, bad news time. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to finishing the exploration part of Chapter 1. This part was originally meant to be part of the exploration but due to school my schedule was very non-lax this week. I will try to get the whole exploration up next weekend, but my sister is going to be staying over at my place and I promised her that we would hang out during her visit so I might not have any free time as well. Please continue to bear with me going ahead. But for now, enjoy this little snippet of what's to come.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

* * *

 **Chapter 1, Part 3: An unlikely ally**

* * *

"Well then, if there aren't any more questions. I think I'll leave you to explore your new home," said Monokuma. He turned to leave…but then. "Oh, I almost forgot." He turned back to face us. "Since this is now my prison and my school, I think a little change of scenery is in order." Then he pulled out a small remote control from his one of the compartments on his utility belt. "Feast your eyes on my little makeover." Then he pressed one of the buttons on his remote and the ground began to quake beneath our feet.

"W-Wh-What's going on?! What's he doing now?!" Airi exclaimed.

"Is this an earthquake?!" Adam exclaimed.

"Opal grab on to me!" Mirai exclaimed, and Opal nodded and grabbed ahold of her friend in response to maintain her balance.

"U-U-Ug-Ugh! I d-don't l-like th-this!" Kaori shouted in a dizzy tone.

Koro chuckled. "This is so fun, it's like an amusement park ride!"

"Relax, the bumpy ride's almost over!" Monokuma shouted.

(A/N: For more drama, imagine the following as a cinematic cut scene.)

The ground continued to shake immensely for a few more moments, and then the prison itself began to shake as well. It rumbled so much that I thought it might completely tumble down from the magnitude of Monokuma's artificial earthquake. And then suddenly the ground stopped shaking, and in an almost cartoonish manner, the walls of the prison collapsed outward and fell down to the ground with a very small crash. It was almost like they were just flimsy props that were part of some low-budget film set. surprising is what remained behind the prop walls. It was Icarus Juvenile Detention Center, but it's outer appearance seemed really different. What was once a beautiful, tall white building was now half black and half white in color. The colors split straight down the middle all the way down to the entrance. And the emblem of Icarus nearing the sun that hung above the entrance the prison had been replaced with an emblem of an ugly box that had several skulls and grim faces on its sides to act as designs. And in the center of the box was Monokuma's signature scar-shaped red eyed. Monokuma had actually taken complete control over the prison. Going so far as to redesign it with his own brand.

"…" For a few moments after that, we just stood silent in complete shock at the scene we had just witnessed.

" _Upupupupupupupupu_! Look at your dumb faces! Priceless! You probably thought the whole prison was going to be destroyed, right?!" Monokuma laughed at us. Then he suddenly got all depressed. "Well to tell you the truth that was originally the plan, and then I was going to have my prison be dropped onto the rubble where it stood by a team of helicopters. But I ran out of time to fully model the building so I ended up having to remodel the old prison instead. I just made those fake walls to surprise you guys, but frankly I'm more surprised that you actually fell for them. I personally didn't think they were all that realistic."

"So it's true then? You've actually modeled this prison to be as ugly as you," said Damion.

"Aww, Damion-kun is always so mean to me. You know, I really just act out because I want to be your friend," Monokuma replied in disappointment.

"Die, you disgusting creature," Damion spat back at Monokuma.

Monokuma chuckled. "I guess you'll never change. You probably intend to take a swing at me yourself the next time my back is turned."

"I'm no imbecile," Damion replied. "With your strength, you'll kill me where I stand if I try anything so rash. I have no choice but to plot my revenge on you for the near future, when I win this killing game of yours."

"Win the killing game?" Hinageshi replied. "To even play such a thing is a bit much. You really think you can win at this insanity?"

"I don't believe I asked for any comments to my actions from the plainest looking person here," Damion replied in a harsh tone.

"…" Hinageshi didn't respond.

"I am Damion Stavros, hailed as the reincarnation of Caesar himself for my superior intellect and manipulation skills. There is no doubt that I will come out on top of this do or die zero sum game," Damion explained with a wicked smirk.

"Pride cometh before the fall, Lucifer," Ginrou replied. "I think you underestimate my drive to honor God's wishes." Ginrou help up his bible, high in the air. "God demands blood and punishment. All the sinners here shall be executed by me. For that is what God commands. This killing game is merely a test by him."

"What? No it's not. The killing game is a Monokuma brand original," Monokuma replied.

"I shall answer God's wishes! I shall execute all the sinners in this wicked game!" Ginrou exclaimed. He was clearly in his own world now.

Noriaki sighed. "Geez, just listening to this blowhard is painful. His delusions of grandeur might be even greater than mine." Then he chuckled. "Just kidding, I'm God. If anyone is the most delusional here, it's me. I'm so great, that I know I'll win this game for sure. Prepare to feel the wrath of the almighty Tenshi!" he exclaimed with a great big care-free smile.

Monokuma seemed happy as he sighed in delight. "Aww, such healthy blood lust. You inmates make your Warden/Headmaster very proud. That's the spirit! Run ahead full force into this bloody, bloody future! It's the killing springtime of youth!" he exclaimed. Then he suddenly calmed down and said in a very serious tone, "I'm looking forward to see who will die first. Don't disappoint me." And then in an instant, he disappeared into thin air.

Mireille let out a sigh of relief. "That little miscreant is finally gone. So what should we all do now?"

"There's no other way off of this island according to Ms. Warden, so it looks like we're stuck here for now," said Yoko. "It would be best for us explore every inch of our current environment to get a better grasp of the situation. 'Twould be bad if we were done in by something unexpected, pyon."

"Pyon? Why are you trying to sound like a rabbit now?" Mana asked.

"Why not? It's cute, no? Bunnies are cute, I am cute. Therefore, I am a bunny," Yoko simply replied.

"You're a really weird girl," Taichi replied.

"…" Yoko silently glared at Taichi.

"Even if she is weird, she does make a good point. We're stuck here and no one's coming to get us…at least for the time being. We should learn more about our circumstances; we need to know if that damn bear has left us the basic needs for our survival," Victor explained.

"You're right, starving out here would be pretty bad," Airi agreed.

"Then who's up for a little exploration, chums?" Adam asked. "Let's scope out every inch of the prison and see what Monokuma's got in store for us."

"You sound way too excited about all of this," said Fuyu.

"I know one thing! I need food really fucking badly! If I don't eat soon I'm going to devour each and every one of you bastards! Meat, dammit! Give me some meat, right fucking now!" Kaori shouted.

"You're hungry? Really? I wouldn't have guessed," Fuyu replied sarcastically.

"You got some fucking death wish, bitch?! Keep getting on my nerves and see what happens!" Kaori shouted.

Fuyu scoffed. "You're pathetic."

"Why don't I show you the way to the mess hall, Takenaka-chan?" Eliza asked, in an effort to diffuse the tension. "I know how badly you need your food, and if Monokuma knows too I'm sure he would've left the food supply I had prepared for you untouched." Then she sweatdropped. "At least I hope he did."

Kaori looked positively giddy. "Food! Food! Food! Food! Now! Now! Now! Now!" she shouted. "Take me there right now, you blonde bitch!"

"I'll just assume that's your way of saying please. Come on, follow me," said Eliza.

"I think I'll come with you too, Eliza-chan," said Hinageshi. She eyed Kaori. "Just in case you need some help."

"I want to go too. All of Kaori-chan's talk about food is starting to get me hungry too," said Airi.

Eliza smiled. "Much appreciated, Otsuka-chan, Shimizu-chan. Alright then, follow me." Then Eliza, Kaori, Airi, and Hinageshi made their way to the entrance of the prison.

"I think I'll see what this place has to offer as well, but I shall require some protection in case anyone gets any ideas about trying anything while my back is turned. Mr. Blood, may I call on your services once again?" Damion asked.

"Very well, however I ask that you don't make a habit out of ordering me around. Who knows? I might try and kill you, myself," Victor replied as he glared at Damion with his one good eye.

Damion snickered. "Then it might be a good idea to hire a second body guard as well." Damion scanned the others and then his eyes landed on Taichi. "How about you, Mr.…?"

"My name's Taichi Inai," Taichi replied.

"Mr. Inai, eh? What an interesting name. How would you like to accompany me and Mr. Blood here?" Damion asked.

"Why do you want me? And more importantly, why would I want to do that?" Taichi replied.

"The decision is purely up to you, rest assured. It's just, I have an eye for talent, you see. And you have a look in your eyes that even makes me quake in my shoes a bit. Someone like you, dark and mysterious would make the perfect body guard. I have no doubt in my mind that if anyone so much as looked at you the wrong way, you'd kill them without hesitation," Damion explained.

"…" Taichi said nothing and just stared at Damion for a few moments. And then finally, he looked away and stared off into the distance at the great sea that surrounded us. "I'm not going to kill anyone. That's not what I want. What I want is purer and more innocent than that," he said in a soft tone.

"I see, and what pretell would you do if anyone tried to take that precious thing away from you?" Damion asked.

Taichi looked back at him and simply said, "Then I'd kill them without hesitation. I'd stab them over, and over, and over, and over, and over again until all the strength had been drained from my body."

"…" We were all a little unnerved by that response.

Damion snickered again. "Yes, you're exactly the kind of person I would like to hire. Like I said, I have an eye for talent. So what do you say?" Taichi thought about it for a minute and then he simply nodded and went over to join Damion and Victor. Then the three boys made their way to the prison entrance as well. But before he went inside the building, Damion turned and looked back at me. "Oh and Mr. Detective, don't be surprised if someone tries to kill you before the day ends. This is a game where mysteries abound after all, any would be killer might not like the idea of a detective ruining their murder plot. Just a friendly word of advice, from one gentleman to another." And with that warning and a wicked grin, he entered the building and we lost sight of him.

"Kubikiri-kun, your God wants to explore his new kingdom as well! So he demands that you escort him post-haste!" Noriaki exclaimed in a boastful manner.

Ginrou looked unnerved. "You try my patience again and again, you insolent cur. If you continue to present yourself as the Almighty in that manner you will force my hand, and I will not be held responsible for the actions that follow."

"Aww, come on. I'm scared someone might try and kill me. If I go with you at least I won't be alone," Noriaki replied.

"I want to execute you most of all, foolish cur," Ginrou replied.

"I know, but at least I expect it from you. And think about it this way, if someone else kills me you'll never get the chance to do so yourself," Noriaki replied with his care-free smile.

Ginrou's eyes widened. "That is…! That is something I cannot allow! I shall be the one to punish you! Your head belongs to me!"

Noriaki chuckled. "That's the spirit, protect your kill at all cost! Now if you'll please follow me." Noriaki ran off to the entrance and Ginrou, who was concerned someone besides him would kill Noriaki, followed after him. Noriaki looked back at the rest of us and waved. "TTFN! Tata for now!" he shouted. Then both he and Ginrou disappeared behind the double doors.

"Opal come on, we should go see if there's any medical supplies in there. We need to get you fixed up," Mirai said to her friend.

"Geez, you're practically half my…size and I feel smaller than you…now, Mirai," Opal replied. "You've got a sour outside…but a really sweet inside." Opal giggled. "You're a full on…tsundere."

Mirai blushed. "Opal, stop teasing me so much."

Opal continued to giggle. "But your reactions are too…cute, I can't…help it," Opal said through her deep breaths.

"Shut up, can you walk?" Mirai asked.

Opal tried to put pressure on her right leg and made her best effort to walk. However, she appeared to be limping really badly. "With some…effort, yeah," Opal replied with a painful twinge. Then suddenly Yosuke ran over to Opal and Mirai and wrapped Opal's right arm around his shoulders. Opal was surprised. "What are you…?"

"Don't force yourself, just put your weight on me," said Yosuke.

"Hey you, shady bastard! What are you thinking of?! Suddenly grabbing Opal like that?!" Mirai exclaimed.

"Huh? I…I didn't mean anything by it," Yosuke replied in confusion. "She looked like she needed help so I was just…"

"Trying to take advantage of the situation by copping a feel! Disgusting pervert!" Mirai exclaimed.

"What? No, that's not…" Yosuke was too flustered to respond. "Look if you have a problem with just me carrying her then why don't we both support her?" Yosuke asked Mirai.

"Don't try to make Mirai…do heavy lifting, she's as frail as…a baby bird," said Opal.

"Yeah, disgusting pervert! I mean, hey Opal, I'm stronger than I look!" Mirai exclaimed.

Yosuke sighed. "Lucius, you want to give me a hand here?" he called out to Lucius for assistance in dealing with the two troublesome girls.

"Uh, yeah sure I'll…" Lucius was cut off when Mireille grabbed ahold of his shoulder.

She gave him a very wicked smile. "Not so fast, Mr. Degenerate. You owe me a new hat, so you're going to help me find one. Now come on, we have a lot of ground to cover." Then Mireille dragged Lucius by his shirt collar to the front entrance.

"Whoa! Wait! What?!" Lucius exclaimed as he was dragged off by Mireille before he even knew what was happening. "How about you give me a hand?!" Lucius shouted at Yosuke.

"Stop whining and come on!" Mireille exclaimed.

"Look, I'm sorry okay! It was an accident! An accide…!" Lucius was cut off when Mireille successfully dragged him through the entrance's double doors.

Yosuke sighed and then he looked at me. "Kogoro could you…?" And then Yoko cut him off.

"Sorry, I need to speak alone with Goro for a minute. I suggest you find help elsewhere," said Yoko.

"Well then Adam could you…?" Yosuke called out to Adam, who walked by him without a second thought.

"Sorry chum, not getting involved in this one," said Adam. Then he walked into the prison by himself.

"Then…um?" Yosuke looked around to the still remaining people. There was only one boy left, the ever delusional Koro Kiriko. Koro smiled and waved at Yosuke when he saw him looking his way. "No way," Yosuke said to himself as he shook his head.

"Oh you're completely useless! Can't you carry her on your own?!" Mirai exclaimed.

"You said that you didn't want me to do that!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"It's really no…trouble," Opal replied. "I can walk fine…by myself." Then the three inmates got involved in a nasty argument that was heating up by the minute, but before it could get any more intense an unlikely someone swooped in to save the day.

Fuyu wrapped Opal's left arm around her shoulders. "There, now will the three of you please shut the hell up?" she asked in her deadpan voice. She was clearly very annoyed.

"Sorry," Mirai, Opal, and Yosuke replied in unison.

Fuyu let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, now come on let's see if we can find something to treat her injuries." Led by Fuyu, the group entered the prison as well.

"All of them are so eager to go inside," said Mana. "Well I suppose it's not the strangest thing. Being confronted with such an abnormal situation, anyone would be desperate to find something normal to make sense of. But I think instead of just exploring, I'll use this time to look for more of those hidden cameras. Their purpose is one of the things I want to find out about most of all."

"Ooh, you really think outside of the box. Can Kiwi and I join you?" Koro asked Mana.

Mana sighed. "I guess, just don't get in my way."

"Yes ma'am," Koro replied.

"Good boy, follow my orders and I might even consider becoming your friend," Mana replied.

"Really?!" Koro exclaimed. "Yay, another new friend!" And then Mana and Koro ran off into the prison as well in search for more hidden cameras. Finally, the only two people left were Yoko and I. As I stared at her I couldn't help but wonder what she kept me back for. What exactly did she want to talk about? For a few moments we just stood in place and looked at each other in complete silence. I looked at her, and she looked back. It almost felt like we were peering into each other's very souls. Yoko Ketsukari, she was a mysterious one, no doubt about it. Even if I've known her for almost two years, I still found myself wondering what she was thinking about. She was so unpredictable that it was next to impossible to determine what she had on her mind. In an odd way, her unpredictability made her my greatest foe, and at one time even my greatest ally. It had been almost one year since our final confrontation, when I revealed to the world that one of its greatest high school detectives was really an infamous criminal mastermind. Don't let her weird appearance and mannerisms fool you. She was dangerous, she was very dangerous. I hate to admit it, but at that point I feared for my life.

Then Yoko blinked, and she let out a loud groan. "Aww damn, I lost the staring contest, pyon. To think that I would lose to Goro of all people, my pride will never live that down."

I sweatdropped. "Staring contest?"

"Well you just started staring at me intensely all of a sudden, Goro. I thought that's what you wanted to do. Why? Was I wrong, pyon?" Yoko asked.

My eye twitched in agitation. "You haven't changed at all. You're still as unpredictable as ever."

Yoko giggled enthusiastically. "I'm glad I live up to your expectations, Goro."

She always calls me Goro when she's upset with me. "Don't tell me you're still blaming me for what happened to you? That was your own fault. You were the one who was helping criminals commit crimes, I was just the one who caught you. You were a detective, you knew the difference between right and wrong."

Yoko sighed. "It appears you haven't changed either. You still see the world in black and white and nothing else. Even if shades of gray are what hurt me and my friends, you choose not to acknowledge them."

"…" I remained silent.

"Since I've been incarcerated I haven't had that much access to the news, so tell me has there still been no word on the Black Goat killer?"

I shook my head. "No, since his run in with your group, he's gone completely underground. There have been no new murders and the trail's gone officially cold."

"So it's officially become a cold case then?" Yoko scoffed. "I'm sure that makes Chihaku's parents very happy, knowing the man who put their son in a coma that he may never wake up from, will never be found. And what about Lavy? I haven't heard anything from him either."

"He told me he came to visit you once, but you told him to leave and never come back," I replied.

Yoko made a sad smile. "I didn't want him to see me like that. He was practically my brother, and I know his personality, seeing me in there would just make him feel guilty. He'd find some way to blame himself for what I did. Ever the martyr, that one."

"I've heard he's officially retired from detective work. And because of that, I haven't seen him since our last conversation about you," I explained.

Yoko sighed. "I guess that's for the best. His uncle was right in the end, all of our games nearly got us killed in the end. Still though, some part of me was still hoping he might become a great detective one day for all of our sakes. Becoming detectives together has been our dream since we were little, it's a shame to see that dream completely die."

I tried to cheer her up. "If it's any consolation, when the police decided to close the Black Goat case I asked if I could take it over for them instead of it just becoming a cold case. I promise, when we get out of here, I won't stop until I find him and he pays for what he did to you and your friends."

Yoko scoffed. "Sweet, stupid Goro. Don't promise things you can't keep, pyon. It's very rude. And besides, it's not like it's going to change everything that's happened. Even if…not when…if we get out of here, I'll still be a criminal and you'll still be a detective. You're going to end up putting me away again, so please don't try and act like we're friends." She wasn't acting like her usual goofy self. These were her true feelings that I was hearing. "Hey Goro? Monokuma told us that the reason we're here is because of our past crimes, but then he went on to call those crimes, talents. Do you want to know what my talent is? Yoko Ketsukari, the Ultimate Napoleon of Crime."

* * *

YOKO KESTUKARI

ULTIMATE NAPOLEON OF CRIME

* * *

"Ultimate Napoleon of Crime?" I repeated. "Like Professor James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' nemesis?"

"That's the one, it was his moniker, and the moniker of the man he was based off of. Adam Worth. They called him that because he led a revolution in crime, much like Napoleon Bonaparte's French Revolution. He was able to establish a very sophisticated network of organized crime; unlike anything the world has ever seen. Criminals would pay him to invest in their schemes and he would make sure that they had everything they needed to pull off those schemes in return. Robberies, kidnappings, murders, assassinations, he was at the center of it all." She let out a sad giggle. "It's funny, I always thought of myself as Sherlock Holmes, I wanted to be a great and unique detective just like him. But before I knew it I turned from Holmes to Moriarty. I became the villain in the end, but I was so blinded by my thirst for revenge against the Black Goat killer and the public that scorned me and my friends that I couldn't see it until it was too late. The damage is done, I'm a criminal inside and out," Yoko explained.

"But you know, it's not too late to change," I replied.

"Do you really believe that?" Yoko asked.

"…" I was silent again.

"No, of course you don't. You're Mr. Black and White after all," Yoko replied. "But it's okay, I don't believe it either. The only person who does is Ms. Warden, she was the first person I met who didn't just judge me on my actions. What I did was wrong in her eyes as well, but she said that my actions didn't have to define who I was for the rest of my life. If I wanted to, I could become who I was before I became obsessed with revenge. I try to remember that girl, she was always so care-free and smiling all the time. She groped people's butts so much that they called her the "ass hunter". She liked candy, and bunnies, and everything that was cute and sweet. She was surrounded by friends who all shared her interests and every day was so much fun. I try to mimic her actions as best as I can, but in the end that's all an act. It's a mask I wear to comfort me; all my actions are fake. The truth is, I'm afraid that the real Yoko Ketsukari no longer exists." Then she sadly giggled again. "But still, Ms. Warden believed that I could become that girl again. She said that she brought me here because she wanted to help me change. And because of that, I…I want to help her."

"Huh?" I replied.

"I want to help her, in any way I can. This prison was taken from her by Monokuma and the Mastermind who created him. And now we're being forced to kill each other, and if we don't do something soon. I'm afraid that Ms. Warden will eventually lose all that hope that she has in others. She'll become like us, if we don't do something to help her," Yoko explained.

"Like us?" I was confused.

"Goro, you may be the Ultimate Detective but I think you fail to realize the big picture. You don't have any hope in others, it's as plain as day. You're cynical, and believe that the world is doomed no matter what we do. But I can't say that I'm not the same way, and I can't say the same for the others. You're like us more than you think you are. Which is why, I know you'll believe me when I say, that we have to do everything in our power to make sure that Ms. Warden doesn't end up like us. We have to make sure above all else, that she doesn't lose hope," Yoko explained.

I thought about it for a moment. "You…You're right. We can't let Abbott-san turn out like that." I thought back to the way she looked when no one chose to stand with her against Monokuma. She looked so lost, so alone. And I…I didn't want to see her like that again. "But what you think we should do? According to Monokuma, escape is impossible."

"There's a chance that he might've been lying to incite murder as the only option for freedom, but even Ms. Warden said there was no other way off the island except for the bridge. What we need is an alternate escape route," Yoko replied.

"Eliza said she could call for help, but her phone was missing," I replied.

"So if we find her phone then we might be able to escape? It's worth a shot, considering there's a chance that Monokuma didn't completely dispose of it. But if it comes down to it in the end, we might have to consider more drastic measures," Yoko replied.

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"We can't let anyone kill," Yoko replied.

"What?" I asked.

"Ms. Warden's reaction to the others even contemplating killing completely shocked her, if it actually does happen it might push her over the edge and we may never get her back," Yoko explained.

"You're right, if someone does end up dying she might lose all hope," I replied.

"That good heart of her's will be completely tainted with despair," Yoko added. "If you truly care about her, you'll agree with me when I say we must make sure that does not happen. We cannot let anyone kill, and…" she grimaced. "And I don't want to see anyone else die because I couldn't protect them."

I put my hands on her shoulders and got her look up at me. "I'm on your side, and I don't want anything happen to Abbott-san either. I'm her bodyguard, the whole reason I came here with her is because it's my job to protect her. We'll stop this game before it begins, for her sake."

Yoko smiled. "Are you sure? Convincing vicious criminals like these not to kill will be easier said than done," she replied.

"It doesn't matter what they think, I won't let anyone die. I'm not going to let Monokuma get what he wants." Then I smirked. "And besides, we have an ace up our sleeve. Remember rule seventeen? If I correctly guess the Mastermind's identity then the game will automatically end, and a sociopath like the one we're dealing with prides themself on playing by their own rules. So all we have to do is figure out who's doing this and this will all be over. And we're two genius detectives, so we should have no problem solving this mystery if we work together."

Yoko giggled. "Guess you need all the help you can get, eh Go…Kogo?" Yoko asked. Kogo, her other nickname for me which she only used when she was happy with me.

"It's been a while since I've heard you call me that, bun-bun," I replied with a chuckle.

"You've impressed me with how much you're trying to change so I think you've earned it, pyon," Yoko replied. "Going forward the Ultimate Detective and the Ultimate Napoleon of Crime are partners. So you better not slow me down." Then she began walking towards the entrance to follow after the others. "Come on Kogo, it's sleuthing time," she said in an excited manner.

I smiled and chased after her. I was happy that I could get the opportunity to become friends with Yoko again, she was a good detective, there was no denying that. And her odd behavior did bring a smile to my face every now and then. But unfortunately, because of my momentary feeling of hope, I made a very important oversight. Yoko was lying right to my face. She didn't want to change, she didn't want to help Eliza, and she didn't even want the two of us to become friends again. All she wanted was revenge. That fact had not changed. And because of that oversight, in three days' time, the Death Row of Mutual Killing would claim its first victim.

* * *

A/N: Okay, exploration for sure next time. Hopefully, talk to you guys again next week.


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